Can You Hear Me?
by Myriad of Lemon Drops
Summary: It's amazing how many emotions a human being can experience in a single moment; fear for one's life, anguish for the circumstances, and helplessness for their inability to act. Witnessing her parent's horrific assassination as a young child, Tsunayomi Sawada vowed to submerge herself into the world of Mafioso in hopes of confronting that man once more.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn, all rights belong to Amano Akira and the companies she is afflicted with._

_**New Readers:**__ Whether you clicked on this story because you like Fem!Tsuna works, you felt intrigued by the summary, or you ran out of more interesting things to read. I want to thank you for taking the time to give this humble fan-fiction story a chance._

_**Returning/Old Readers:**__ I have a lot to explain for. First, I must extend my apologies to all previous followers of this story. When I came to check up on my account, I found my story deleted. Turned out it was deleted by one of my siblings. I'm somewhat glad however, because I can use this situation, I've always felt like the story had not been written well, too many details in obvious areas and the like. Secondly, I remember writing in my last author's note that I expected to update in April. It became April, May, June, and today would be July 1__st__. I've let you guys down in more ways than one, and I can only hope that this newly revised story can satiate some of your disappointment._

Rated T just in case for description, violence, possible swearing etc.  
Genre set to General (because I'm not sure if adventure really suits this story) and Family (This might change, but with what I planned...)

The summary may give the wrong idea about my writing style. I'm not the type to venture in writing about subjects that are too deep or dark, and I feel like the summary could have given some readers this idea. This story is meant to be a somewhat fun read with action attached.

Here's an option, Chapters 1 through 6 detail Tsumi's early childhood, and if you want to, you can skip to Chapter 7, where the story moves to the start of the KHR storyline! Of course, you will be more filled in on Tsumi's character if you stay to read from the beginning, but I know how boring it can get sometimes.

* * *

Chapter 1: **Descent**

It was a perfectly normal night in Namimori, many shoppers could be seen making last minute purchases, the shouts of ending sales urging them on. Amidst the hectic rush, the small figure of a young girl was hardly missed as she weaved though the crowds of people and blended into the shadows of a narrow alleyway.

The child gave a quick glance at the oblivious populace behind her before she started running, as fast as her tiny legs would allow. It didn't matter which direction she was headed, she just wanted- no needed, to get away.

She couldn't tell how long she had ran for, but judging by the growing ache in her ankles, she must have ran a fair distance. Still, for insurance, the child dismissed the pain her protesting legs were giving her and persisted running.

Horrified shudders ran through her tiny body as she remembered the events that occurred merely two hours ago.

Her parents were dead.

That had been the only thing to register in her mind at the time.

Now however, the reality of her situation was beginning to settle onto her. The image of a burning house came into mind. The girl quickly dispersed the memory. She had nowhere to go back to. With the winter season approaching, the nights were only going to get colder. She was a smart child, always acting too mature for her age; she knew her chances of staying alive were slim at best if she didn't find shelter and nourishment soon. As if to laugh at her misery, a sudden gust of cold air swept by, teasing her body with its chill. The girl shivered before halting in her tracks to take in her current surroundings; she noticed that she was facing a forked road; looking ahead she could see two paths branching out into the darkness.

Neither of the paths looked like a promising route to take. Deciding to take any chances she got, the girl randomly selected a path and ran in that direction, hoping fervently that nothing else would go wrong that night.

A few moments passed in silence, where the only noise she heard came from her own labored breathing and the noise from her footsteps. She wasn't sure if she had chosen a good route, so far the path had shown no obstacles that would threaten to slow her down.

Assuming that she might have lost her pursuers by now, the girl slowed down to a light trot. After what seemed like a minute later, she came across a curve along the path. By this time the girl was having trouble taking in air, so she stopped jogging altogether. As she came close to the bend, she noticed a thin sliver of light coming from up ahead. Her heart thumped loudly as she walked closer and closer to the source of the light. Perhaps she would find help soon! With new found hope, the girl turned the corner of the street; only to come face to face with the cold blank stare of a tall metal fence.

She wanted to laugh out hysterically, so much for an escape route. The light she found out was coming from a street lamp on the other side of lattice styled fence. She tried to calm down; surely her pursuers would have given up the chase by now? The girl did a quick inspection of the area she was in, trying to find out where she currently was. The fence she noticed was surrounded by many wooden crates stacked upon each other, forming a makeshift pyramid-like structure.

She decided to take a closer look at the crates, soon being so engrossed in her examination that she didn't notice the quiet, barely distinguishable sound of footsteps in the area behind her.

When she finally took into notice the quiet sound of footsteps as they barely revealed themselves to her ears, her body immediately tensed up. Some people say paranoia was not the best habit to have, but in a dangerous situation it could very well be the extra precaution needed to save your live. Besides, she thought grimly, it was not paranoia if there was a real fear of death.

The girl felt herself become slightly hysterical, frozen in her spot as she was too scared to move. She was in an area where nobody frequented regularly, surely no one followed her? She was too worn-out to run any longer. It might have all been in her head, she decided after several seconds of silence. A trick of her mind to scare her; she had always been a little too imaginative for her own good.

Her heartbeat drummed rapidly against her chest as she took cautious steps back towards the direction she came from. Her legs felt like lead as she fought hard not to think about the consequences of being caught by _them_**. **Death would be the last thing she needed to worry about after all that she'd done. They were not normal assassins, they were professionals; the kind that left no trace of any evidence behind of their despicable acts. She didn't stay behind long enough to see, but her intuition told her that they had taken the corpses of her parents with them.

Her hands clenched into tight fists as the memory of her fleeing from the murder scene lingered in her mind. It was too late to turn back now. Her footsteps slowed to a stop. Now was not the right time to think of them; she would reflect on tonight's events after finding a place to stay for the last few hours of darkness. Right now her main priority was to find her way back to an area she was familiar with. Clearing her mind of anymore unnecessary thoughts, the girl started walking once more, only to come to an abrupt stop.

She felt her heart speed up in apprehension; it was strange, the footsteps she'd heard earlier had started again. Then it was for real? She'd never thought there would be a day where she would hope so much for something to be a figment of her imagination.

Why did the sound of footsteps pause whenever she stopped? Unless…No! All of a sudden, it became clear to her. With a sinking heart, she realized that she had never actually escaped from her pursuers. The entire time they had been only playing with her, their prey. It wasn't her thinking too much into the situation. Somehow she just knew that was exactly what had happened.

They were going to kill her, just like they did her parents.

_-She saw her parents; alive, they were talking to her with eyes twinkling with pride and happiness; suddenly their faces turned deathly pale, eyes now glassed over and devoid of any warmth. Lifeless-_

Hidden emotions that refused to show themselves earlier in the evening started to surface; tears started forming and threatened to fall from her eyes.

Aware of how near her parent's murderers were, she wiped her tears on her sleeve hastily, determined not to show any weakness. Feeling her resolve harden, the girl braced herself for what she knew would come. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she stared out into the night. They were not going to take her down easily.

* * *

From their place in the shadows, the men stepped out, making their presence known. Maybe she should have made an escape plan, the girl realized. The predatory looks the men were giving her made her feel uneasy.

The leader smirked as he took in his target's appearance. The clouds had faded just enough for some moonlight to filter through, letting him see the child's small figure in more detail. He was now finally able put a face to the brat, having last seen him in the darkness of his house.

He looked the child over with practiced ease; he liked to be able to think back to how his victims looked like, burning the memories of pain filled faces into his head simply delighted him.

His nose twitched in revulsion as he took into notice the dirtied appearance of the boy, the sweater and jeans the brat was wearing were tattered and ripped in various places. He felt a small feeling of glee from this, knowing he was the one who'd done that to the brat.

Putting the boy's clothed state aside he could just see the child in a few years time; fairly short, brunet hair swaying gently in the wind, with innocent brown eyes enhanced by a creamy complexion; it was a shame he was male. The child's gender wouldn't matter that much he supposed, he personally knew many people in his line of work that would pay top price for an unpolished jewel like this one.

It was unfortunate that he was required to kill her. He thought back to his orders, hadn't his boss ask something else of him, one of his long standing requests? Ah yes, he had been ordered to "Invite" some boys for his boss to have some fun with.

This was perfect, a better fate for the brat than being tortured by him. The boy had deserved it, having made him waste a few hours tracking him. His only regret now was not being able to witness the moment when the brat would be defied, only the people close to his boss had that pleasure after all.

All he had to do now was to make sure that the brat would stay still and let his men capture him. He allowed himself a small chuckle for his ingenious before advancing towards the child, his plan in place.

Now that they were out of the darkness of the shadows, she was able to faintly make out the silhouettes of what appeared to be three grown men.

They were all of a tall build; none of them looked to be shorter than six feet tall. This only served to make them look more menacing as the men walked towards her. One of the men let out a low chuckle that sent shivers down her body; he looked like the leader of the three, being taller and sturdier than the rest.

Despite the fear she felt from being in the presence of the killers once again, the child tried to put on a mask of indifference. Thinking over her decision, she decided that charging in on a suicide attempt didn't look like such a tempting idea after all; but if she was to do something, she couldn't let her emotions ruin her chances of escaping. She tried to look around her as swiftly and discreetly as she could, not wanting to let the men see her looking for means of escape.

Unfortunately, it seemed she wasn't careful enough. Before she knew it, her hands were clamped together by the large ones of the leader, who had crossed the short distance to the girl in under five seconds.

She was too shocked to even notice the pain she was in, too shocked to let out a yelp of surprise; it was all she could do to just stare at her captor with wide eyes.

* * *

He let out a growl of annoyance; he should have known after all these years that children were nothing but cowards. Still, he couldn't deny that the screams of terror and pain from his targets were things he relished.

Making sure that his hands were still grasping the small ones of the child, he started speaking to the boy in low murmurs. Taking in with delight the way the brat had flinched when he told him what he did to disobedient children.

* * *

She couldn't stop trembling, not understanding how a person could be so unjust; so cruel.

Once again, she could feel tears forming in her eyes. How could that man bring up the death of her parents? She tried to keep the tears from falling by blinking feverishly; knowing she had failed as she felt the tears trickle down her face.

This seemed to annoy the leader, as he sighed, and reached into the side pocket of his pants. Being restrained, there was not much she could do but observe his actions.

She hadn't noticed before, but the man was dressed rather formally. He was wearing a black suit clad with an obsidian tie over a red undershirt. He was also wearing silver earrings of some sort which glistened in the moonlight. Her eyes travelled to his scarred face, shuddering at the sight.

The man's eyes were slightly slanted; his iris seemed to be of a murky brown colour. All in all, the way he dressed gave him the appearance of a person who cared about his appearance, as everything the man wore complemented his hair, which was red; the shade of blood. Goosebumps ran through her body as she took in the man as a whole; with the luminous light of the moon casting shadows over his features, the man looked like a demon.

Somewhere in the deep subconscious of her mind, together with the faint memories of being a toddler, the girl remembered seeing similarly dressed men in her house once before. They hadn't looked as intimidating as these men, but they all seemed grave and gave the impression of people who held no tolerance for nonsense.

She was able to recall the events of that particular day quite well. It had been the first time she had seen her father look so serious. She remembered the person she called father send her mother and her out to buy groceries, and his agitated face when he realized that she had seen the men.

She hadn't been able to understand at that time, why hadn't he wanted her to greet the visitors? She had been taught by her mother to always be polite to guests. Thinking back to those days, she now knew; her father didn't want her to be frightened.

As if the reality had finally sank in, the girl realized that she wasn't ever going to see her father again; she would never again be able to experience the warmth that each of her mother's smiles brought, the hugs and kisses that brought her so much joy were never to be received again.

This time she could not hold back the sob that escaped her body. Another followed, and another until she was crying. She detested this fault of hers, once she started crying, she would not able to stop for some time. This did not sit well with the leader apparently, as he had finally found what he was searching for and pointed the object at the weeping girl.

* * *

The sobbing mess of a child was almost degrading to look at; it made him question why he didn't just kill the brat to begin with. In his opinion, men weren't supposed to show their emotions externally, even if the male in question looked barely old enough to be in school.

He pulled out the silver revolver that he kept in the side pocket of his pants, it was his favourite one to use in situations where he was required to kill; any blood that landed on it would easily wash off. He had made sure to order an unregistered revolver; he wouldn't want the civilian police to get involved. Too much bloodshed wasn't always the best solution to things.

There was one thing that was bothering him at the moment; he was sure that his boss had only told him to kill the married couple. Their file labelled them of having no children whatsoever. Who was the brat then? At the question, a scheming smirk appeared on face. The child could have simply been there at the wrong place, at the wrong time; a neighbour's kid perhaps. So if the brat were to let's say disappear, sure there would be disappearance flyers for some time, but eventually people would give up. Even if he were to sell the child off, no one would think to continue the chase for too long. He wasn't under the obligation to act on his boss's request any time soon, besides he was getting a little short on spending money at the moment.

He looked at the brat again; the boy seemed to be too caught up in his sobs to notice the glare that was being pointed his way. It came down to two choices; kill the child, or sell him. He was tempted to kill the boy, to stop his noisy blubbering if nothing else, but his love for cash overwhelmed his annoyance by just a little more. Besides, he couldn't resist an opportunity to earn money. This was mainly the reason why he never got promoted to a higher position; his decisions could be easily persuaded with the right sum of cash.

Now, what to do with the boy…He was sure to make a hefty amount of cash if he managed to sell him. Thinking back, one of his clients had asked him for a child; a child that he would soon have in his possession. The only problem was making the child let down his defence long enough for him to coax him into his trap.

The man brainstormed for a moment before coming to a conclusion. Yes, that would do, he could use the normal method to capture the boy; next thing he knew, he would have drugged the child and sold him overseas.

With no hesitation, or any second thoughts on how his decision would affect the child's life, he commenced his plan.

* * *

Chocolate brown eyes widened in shock and realization as she took in the sight of the revolver.

At that moment she finally realized just how close she was to death. What about her father, she thought suddenly. Did he kill people too? She had never tried to think too much into what he did in his line of profession. The girl's thoughts shot back to her memory of her father; she had never really looked under his cheerful façade.

She had stopped crying, letting out only the occasional sniffles. Was this it? She didn't know what she wanted. If she died, she was sure she would join her parents, but she knew they wouldn't approve if she died just to see them again.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything. She needed to stall for some time to think up a plan. Unfortunately, it seemed like her mouth had gone numb for a while, as the words that came out of her mouth weren't discernible. She wasn't sure if she was glad that she was interrupted, after all it was rude to talk when someone else was talking. On the other hand, he did spare her from continuing to sound like an idiot.

"Not another word."

She felt it smart not to point out that she technically hadn't said anything yet. The man's voice she noticed was of a low tenor bordering on baritone range. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine her fa-

_'No! His voice was nothing like this man's!'_ She mentally berated herself for even thinking the thought.

'_Focus, look for opportunities to take advantage of!_' The girl forced herself to look at the leader, whose hand clutched the gun that was currently aimed at her forehead.

'_Wait...what about?'_ Now that she thought about it...her hands were free! She gave herself another round of mental berating for that, all those precious minutes, wasted!

The man holding the gun must have noticed her scheming expression, as she soon heard his voice rudely interrupting her from her thoughts.

"I wonder…can you keep a secret?"

Inwardly she praised herself for reading that book about analyzing faces and body language, as she immediately sensed that something was off about the man. If the change in his tone hadn't indicated that something was amiss, he had lowered his weapon of all things!

She knew better than to say yes, the man had proven to her that he was someone who would lie, even kill to get to his objective. The man spoke again, this time in a voice so silky, so velvety that it made her want to hurl.

"I'm sorry; you were running away so fast that I had to stop you somehow!" He said this with an apologetic grin.

At first, she was confused. Why was he suddenly being so nice? Then she realized the men's intentions.

She had to admit, if he wasn't dressed in such a formal way and wielding a gun, he would have passed for a normal person. It was this very fact that sent goose bumps through her body. It frightened her to know that people were able to look so naïve and carefree, yet have evil intentions at the same time.

"You see," the man started again, his facial features softened by a small smile. "I was a good friend of your parents."

"Liar!" the words had left her before she could stop herself. '_Stupid, I should have restrained myself, I'm smarter than this. Even if the words he spouts out are rubbish and lies; I should have just played along!'_

She snapped out of her self-bashing thoughts when she heard a chuckle. The girl looked up to see the man laughing. She knew he was only acting that way; his apparent mirth never reached his eyes.

"Haha! I guess I do look a little scary." He said, keeping a smile on his face the whole time, as if to reinforce the fact that he meant her no harm.

"You see, I knew your father from our high school days." The man's face took on a thoughtful look, "he and I were the best of friends."

When she didn't make any move to interrupt, the man continued. "In fact, we had fought over your mother's hand in marriage once upon a time; of course, as you can see, your daddy was the better man."

Again the girl was reminded of the things acting could do. She really loathed the man in front of her; he killed her parents, taking away any future she had with them, and lied to her about them. She felt deep hatred stir inside her.

"Your father let me be his best man at his wedding, which means I'm your godfather."

'_Go-godfather?' _How dare he? Words couldn't even start to describe the resentment she was feeling for the man right now. Unconsciously she let out a low growl akin to that of an angered animal.

The man flinched and recoiled slightly from instinct, he seemed to have thought over his next sentence as he said "In the event of the death of your parents, I was to take custody of you."

Barely restraining her anger from surfacing, it was all she could do to utter one sentence. "So, you want me to live with you?"

The man seemed to have taken the girl's quiet tone as hopefulness and acceptance, as when he answered, he sounded much more relaxed. "Yes, my child; you won't have to worry about your daddy and mommy any more, I will take care of you."

She saw red. With a roar of anger she charged towards the man and kicked him as hard as she could; knowing that as a child she couldn't do much damage, she kicked him again for good measure. She didn't care where she was hitting, as long as she could make the man feel some pain. The girl heard a thud as the man's gun was knocked out of his hands and onto the pavement.

There was a sudden movement in her peripheral vision which made her take on a defensive position, she crossed her arms together bringing them towards her face, and braced herself for the blow she knew would come. All she got in return for her troubles was a faint groan. She allowed herself a peek at the man and was surprised to find him crouching on the ground; his hands cupped around his privates.

She stood up, contemplating whether to stick around or run away. Had she hit a pressure point? It was strange; none of the books she had read told her about this. It seemed like there were still quite a lot of holes within her knowledge, more research was definitely needed. The self preservative part of her consciousness urged the girl to run away lest something happen, yet the knowledge seeking part of her wanted to find out how she managed to make a full grown man fall to his knees.

She was still deep in thought, torn between fleeing and satisfying her curiosity when she felt a faint buzz as something whizzed pass her cheek. Immediately alert, the girl looked around, trying to find the source of what caused the object. Her eyes took on the sight of two fairly pissed off men glaring at her. Both of them had their guns out.

She felt cold dread creep through her skin. She was in trouble. The frightened child tried to back away slowly; she could already feel her breathing become more labored once more.

_'I'll just keep on backing up_', she decided; she'll run away from these men as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

Unfortunately, fate did not seem to favour her tonight, as the child could now see three armed men advancing towards her; the leader had arisen.

* * *

To say that he was angry was an understatement. He was furious. How dare that good for nothing boy kick him where it counted? Never mind the money the child could bring him; he had never felt more embarrassed in his life. There was just one thing he placed before money, and that was his pride and dignity.

The brat would not die a quick death, no; he would personally make sure that it would be as prolonged and painful as possible. With this in mind, he picked his revolver off the ground and pocketed it. He then stood up and shifted into an offensive stance, secretly making the signal for his men to attack.

* * *

She was petrified with fear. She was going to die as soon as those men reached her. That was not something she wanted, she wanted to live! The girl looked around her frantically, searching for anything that could help her survive. Her eyes fell upon the stack of boxes in the distance that were placed near the chained fence. If only she could climb over those…

The child racked her brain trying to formulate a plan on the spot. It was thanks to her love of strategy that she soon had one thought out, all she needed now was a distraction. A quick glance at her enemies told the girl that the men were nearing her at a rapid pace; she only had seven seconds at best to commence her plan.

'_If anything goes wrong, I blame my curiosity.' _Taking a deep breath, the girl closed her eyes and quickly started clearing her mind; not daring to glance at the men she knew was in front of her, knowing they would only sidetrack her. She concentrated, trying to send out the distress signals she had practiced so hard on.

When three excruciating long seconds had passed and she hadn't received any feedback, the girl started panicking. It was just her luck that the only time her message hadn't been received would be the moment she needed it to the most.

One more look at the advancing party of men told her that they were now literally a step from reaching her; less than a meter away.

It was all or nothing, the girl pivoted around and sprinted towards the metal fence. Cringing a bit when the gunshots started, she ignored them as best as she could, running in a serpent like pattern in an attempt to avoid the bullets.

She quickly began climbing the boxes, knowing that the men were right behind her. It was when she finally reached the crate towering over the top of the fence that the struggle had begun. Each breath she took hurt, she could hardly stay conscious through the pounding headache that was coming in.

All she needed to do was to get down from the top of the fence to the other side. _'Only how?_' was the swirling thought in her head. She had been so intent on escaping the men, that she gave no thought on how she would descend from such a great height. The other side had nothing. With a long drop down and no crates to be used as stepping stones, the thought of climbing over did not sound so appealing any more. There were hardly any hand holds she could make use of, and in her current condition, she didn't think she could make it even if there was.

The girl cursed, using terms she learned from an earlier time at the park, words spewing out while her thoughts raced. _'Should I risk jumping down_?' echoed inside her thoughts. As she was contemplating her predicament, unassumingly, a hand forcefully pulled her back towards the men.

* * *

With his men right behind him, he started after the retreating figure of the child. Briefly puzzling over why the boy had closed his eyes at that moment. He gestured his men to start firing the warning shots, hoping they would scare the kid enough for them to capture him. He really despised exerting more than enough energy to do his jobs.

A glance at the brat told him that the boy had been climbing the crates and was now nearing the top of the fence. With a sigh, the man sprinted the last few meters separating him from the child, effortlessly climbed the stacks of crates, and grasped the left leg of the boy; fully intent on pulling the kid down.

He was going through a mental list of torture methods to use on the child when he felt a dull pain on his right cheek. He looked up, to see a struggling boy. Why couldn't he just let go of the damn fence? With an exasperated roll of his eyes, the man gave the boy's leg another hard yank; only to receive yet another kick to his cheek. That had hurt, and what was that sound?

He looked to the ground below him, looking for whatever had caused the noise. Squinting with his eyes a glint in his field of vision led him to look to his right, near the feet of one of his men. He could only just make out the outline of the item, with the moon's illumination being blocked by clouds once more. Thinking the object to be something of low significance, the man turned his attention to the struggling child yet again.

He didn't notice the object getting picked up by one of his minions; he did however hear their shout of surprise.

"Hey boss! I think you dropped one of your earrings!"

His eyes widened for the briefest of seconds. _'He couldn't have…' _Quickly he checked his ears, to find only one of his earrings intact. That did it. Those earrings had cost him a fortune!_ 'More than the brat's life will ever be worth.'_

With a roar of anguish, the man brought out his revolver and aimed it at the back of the resisting boy's head; the brat wouldn't know what hit him. His face contorted into a deformed smile as he anticipated for the moment when the bullet would pierce his prey's head.

He supposed he should thank the numerous scars that decorated his face, as they had given him the nickname he was now known as; _Katawa no oni_, Deformed Demon. People named him for the way his scars would distort his grin whenever he killed.

The man pulled the hammer of the revolver, rotating the cylindrical block inside it. He fingered the trigger; how he _loved_ the rush of adrenaline that overflowed him every time he took a life.

* * *

The things that happened next occurred so quickly that everything soon became a blur to the girl. As she was being pulled down, she had fought back and felt one of her legs brush up against something. Someone shouted a sentence she couldn't make out in the background and she felt the hand clutching her left leg tighten. The girl turned her head to the side, trying to get a gist of what was happening. She was treated to the picture of a crazed man pointing a revolver at her.

She couldn't help it, with a strangled yelp of surprise; she started fighting against the man's grip on her imprisoned leg. She needed to get away.

Everything was hurting. Through her jagged breathing, the girl could feel her captor's fingers digging deep into the skin of her heel. The fact that she was barely conscious and thus not able to keep track of her surroundings only made the situation that much more frustrating.

Why? Why did this have to happen to her? It was supposed to be just another normal day; all she had wanted was to see her parent's proud faces!

Not for the first time that night, she shook her head; she was usually quite organized with her thoughts. With what remained of her strength, the child swung her restrained leg, freeing it and somehow managed to pull herself back to the top of the fence. As long as she made it over, surely her odds of finding safety would increase? Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her conscious at the moment, and if this didn't work…

The strained girl barely registered the sound of a trigger being pulled, when she slipped and became aware of herself falling.

The last thing she saw was of blurred figures swiftly tackling her assaulter down the stack of crates. She realized that her signal got intercepted in time after all.

With a relieved sigh, the abused child let the merciful haze of unconsciousness envelope her.

* * *

**A/N:** For those of you who read all the way to the end, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story! For those who had only managed to read a few paragraphs, I ask you to please review on why you had not read on.

I feel like I should give new readers a warning. Yes, I will try my best to upload chapters as frequently as I can, but I can't promise that they will always be on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

I enjoy releasing new content that make you guys happier and I can say that this story will not be discontinued unless something drastic happens. Even then I will try my best to overcome any obstacles and bring forth new chapters to anyone still following my story(ies.)

I'm not the brightest writer, nor a very innovative one. My use of words may not seem to fit a situation sometimes, and yes I take long to update, but I'm learning more and more with each new chapter.

Which is why I would love to hear some feedback from you guys! Through reviews or private messages, the criticism really helps me put things into perspective!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Please refer to the first chapter.

* * *

Last Chapter:

_The strained girl barely registered the sound of a trigger being pulled, when she slipped and became aware of herself falling._

_The last thing she saw was of blurred figures swiftly tackling her assaulter down the stack of crates. She realized that her signal got intercepted in time after all._

_With a relieved sigh, the abused child let the merciful haze of unconsciousness envelope her._

* * *

Chapter 2:** Dream**

_Setting_**: **Mindscape

How long had she been walking for? Her concept of time seemed to drift into nothingness; had she been travelling for a few hours? Days could have passed without her noticing, she wouldn't know, even now she felt no signs of fatigue from all her walking. It was a weird feeling almost dreamlike, unless she'd somehow been walking on the spot –and even then there should be the telltale signs of muscle strain after a while- it didn't make sense for her to not feel tired at all.

On the subject of strangeness, from the beginning she had noticed how no echoes resulted from her footsteps. This either signified that the place she was in was so vast that there weren't any obstacles nearby for the sound waves to hit, or that she'd lost her hearing. To her relief she found that she could hear herself just fine. The lack of external noise unnerved her but at least she had all of her senses –which she relied heavily on- in check.

Sighing, the girl thought back to when she had woken up in this strange dark location, she had thought then that if she kept on walking she would eventually arrive somewhere. She had been exploring this place for from what she could tell, a long time, yet there was still no sign of her having gotten anywhere.

_Drip_… _Drip_… _Splash_…

What were those faint noises? A part of her was put on high alert from the first hint of foreign sound she'd heard since her arrival. It sounded like some kind of kind of liquid dripping onto the ground; a thought she found ridiculous since no matter how hard she stomped, she could not hear her own footsteps even as she felt her feet make contact with the ground.

_Drip_… _Drip_… _Drip_…

The sound she identified to be a fluid around the same viscosity as water was coming from somewhere, the noise echoed from all directions making it impossible to tell where the source of the echo was coming from.

She continued walking thinking if she was ever going to get out of here for perhaps the thousandth time. There was still the possibility that this was all a dream which would explain her lack of thirst and fatigue; if so it would be the first time she had retained her awareness in one.

As if by magic, a faint orb of light appeared some distance in front of her, making her jump slightly and immediately alert. Startled by the light's sudden appearance she went into a defensive stance.

"_Was that an enemy?" _was amongst the first few thoughts going through her was still the possibility of those men catching up to her. The chances seemed low though, ever since she'd woken up in this dark place she hadn't seen nor heard any indication that she was being followed. That was one of the other reasons backing up her speculation that she was currently dreaming.

She glanced up cautiously towards the strange orb that had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere, eyes already scanning the foreign mass out of sheer habit. It was a fiery orange in color, resembling a small fireball floating in the air. The thought itself drove her logical mind haywire; a ball of light floating in the air? Those types of things should only exist in supernatural movies. Although on second thought, if she were to count that ability of hers, these impossibilities become slightly more believable.

Chocolate tinted eyes wearily tracked the orb as it suddenly circled around her and starting floating away, as if asking for her to follow; after a moment of hesitation she ran after it with some reluctance, it couldn't hurt to chase after it.

Afterguiding her for what seemed like an hour the orb came to a stop. Surprised, she came out of her dazed trance. She waited for the ball of light to start leading her again, or was she already there; wherever there was. A quick look at her surroundings yielded no results; she was surrounded by the same empty darkness, it was as if she hadn't moved from her original spot at all.

It didn't seem possible, but did it just get darker? This strange world where it was just a dark shade of black before was now an unnerving obsidian. This change unsettled her; she couldn't help but get the feeling that something dire would happen soon.

She was just about to ask the mysterious light where they were, seeing no other options with it being the only dynamic existence she came across so far, when something happened that made her panic.

The light unexpectedly burst into bright Indigo flames before it slowly flickered away, soon all that was left was the inky blackness of her surroundings once more. It was as if the orb of light had never been there in the first place.

She could feel herself quickly getting irritated; she had been hoping that the strange light would lead her somewhere. She was beginning to think that someone was messing with her; although the very thought sounded illogical to her, why would someone go through such lengths for a mere child like her?

She gave a bitter laugh; besides, they had nothing to gain if they had planned to kidnap her for ransom. If this was really a dream, then even with her continued awareness and multiple attempts to wake up, why wasn't she making any progress?

She gave a half-hearted scan around her, there really was no sign of her having gone anywhere; blackness surrounded her from all directions. She would have thought she was actually floating if it wasn't for the feeling of solid ground under her feet.

'_Wait a second!_' She examined the empty space to her left; it was faint, but she could see the shimmering outline of a door. Was she hallucinating?

Figuring that there was only one way to find out she positioned her right hand to where she thought the doorknob would be. To her surprise and amazement, she felt her hand make contact with cold metal. She had already turned the doorknob halfway when she suddenly stopped herself, what if whatever was on the other side of the door did more harm than good? Normally it wasn't a risk she would take if it meant a chance of endangering herself, but right now she felt too annoyed to care. She just wanted to get out of here! She wondered about how large this place was, she hadn't even managed to walk into any walls yet – there must be an end to this mysterious world after all -, whoever owned this place must be quite wealthy! It could be that this was all a very weird dream, but it felt a little too real to be one. For all she knew, those men probably caught up to her and brought her to this place.

Taking a deep breath, she turned the doorknob the rest of the way. The door opened by itself; taking it as a sign to keep going she walked through the door. She immediately sensed that something was wrong, to her eyes it merely looked as if she had walked through a prop door, but even so the atmosphere on this side just felt wrong. When she turned back to exit through the doorway, she found that it was gone.

'_No, this shouldn't be possible!_' She felt the air where the doorknob should be.

'_How could this be? A door couldn't just disappear!_' Running her hands through her short brunette hair she tried to calm herself down.

'_Think…there had to be a trick behind the disappearance of the door!_' It could be that she merely forgot the location of the door, but while it was a possible explanation, she had made contact with it not 30 seconds ago.

She let out a frustrated yell, just when she thought she was getting somewhere, the fates just seemed to enjoy messing around with her.

She was seriously starting to regret what she had done that day; her world was forever changed from her actions, it seemed like every unlucky thing that happened to her afterwards were somehow linked to what she had learned that day.

This wasn't the time to start another one of her brooding episodes though; she was just going to have to accept the fact that going back simply wasn't possible any more, and move on.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

The sudden company of the new voice startled her. She hadn't sensed any foreign presences nearby, how did this person manage to slip through her senses undetected? If this person had been able to slink up to her unnoticed, who knew how many others there were?

"Hm…you don't need to worry about that," the voice answered, she noted from his deep pitch that the voice belonged to a man.

'_Don't need to worry?_' He even had the gall to sound amused! This guy was officially going on her list of people who annoyed her. _'…Wait…I never said anything out loud, how was he able to hear me?_'

"Because I can read your mind," the stranger replied simply, as if they were discussing the weather.

She gasped. That was impossible, at least for most people.

She had suspected that there were certain people out there who were like her, people who had special abilities. This would be her first time meeting one of them though. Was minding reading his only ability? Things could get bad if he was looking for a fight. For all she knew, the stranger could have other powers too, she wouldn't know, the only information she had on "ability users" as she dubbed them would be from her analysis of her own powers.

She suddenly heard a sigh come from the direction of the stranger. "You know, after a while it gets tiring scanning through the thoughts of introverts, most of the time they are rambling almost endlessly in those little heads of theirs." The annoyance in his tone could easily be identified.

She bit back the sharp retort that she was about to make, '_who said you had to read them than!_' it wouldn't do for her to lose control over her emotions right now. So far, the mind-reader seemed civil enough; even though he could have he didn't try to attack her or anything. It wouldn't hurt to try to pry some information from him…

"Did you forget that I could read your mind, your every scheming thought included?"

A small blush lit up her cheeks. Of course she hadn't! She just…before she could defend her slip, the mysterious man had spoken yet again.

"As much as I'd like to stay here and tease you, I'm currently running on a rather tight schedule."

The implications in that sentence sent her brain whirling at the new information. Sometimes she wondered if she had been born with the brain capacity of a teenager.

"Kami…don't think anymore! You're starting to give me a headache." The mind-reader spoke irritably. "I'll just do what I came here for in the first place and leave you to your excessive thinking!"

Before she could respond to his comment, she felt herself being grabbed rather harshly. Disoriented, she could only fight back weakly to the strong arms that held her.

"Don't struggle; it'll only make things worse." were the words suddenly whispered into her ear. She of course reacted like any sensible kid would; as hard as she could she bit into one of the arms that were trapping her.

For her efforts she heard a grunt of pain escape her captor. The arms encasing her had loosened slightly. But before she could take advantage of this moment of weakness, she felt a strong force slam into the back of her neck. A startled gasp was the only sound that indicated she had been affected before her body slumped unwillingly against the hands that once again held her, unconscious.

"Stay still…that's a good girl." With that said, the man started chanting some words that appeared to be in a foreign language. As he chanted, a faint cloak of what looked like Indigo aura started radiating from his body.

A minute later he relaxed, finished with the ritual. He watched with fixated interest as the indigo aura he had been emitting earlier began to gather around his unconscious victim's head.

As if time had stopped, the aura suddenly stopped moving around, it seemed to give a pulse before it abruptly surged into the unconscious girl's forehead.

The mind-reader let out a breathe he hadn't known he was holding, no matter how many times he'd preformed the ritual the final part would always continue to fascinate him.

Yes, it was the greatest feeling, knowing you had control over people, control over their emotions, their memories. Knowing that your were no longer vulnerable to the pettiness of others. He was a different person because of his powers. Subconsciously, his arms tightened around his victim as fragments of memories flashed through his mind. He quickly shook his head to disperse them. He would be forever indebted to his boss.

Now then with the main objective of his mission completed, it was time for his tea break. '_What brand of tea should I have today?_' He wondered absent-mindedly as he gently laid his unconscious victim onto the ground.

He stood up slowly, letting his muscles get used to the sudden change. After stretching a little to loosen the non-existent –because no matter how realistic, it was still a mental image- stiff muscle throughout his body, he then concentrated on his last objective, to escape from this girl's mind.

He had to give her credit, having such fortified defenses within her mind was quite a feat for someone so young. He was certainly surprised when he found out his target was actually a female, contradicting the gender of the clothing she wore; unfortunately before he could scavenge any further into her memories, he suddenly found himself expelled from the memory division of her mind.

Indigo aura once more seeped from his body, this time it crowded together to form a rough outline of a door. On a whim he looked back towards his victim. It was at that moment that he felt something akin to regret, he quickly shook off that feeling it wasn't like her life would be ruined. Just a few nightmares and the child would hopefully go on to live the rest of her life. Was he feeling this way because she was his first assignment who was a child, or that she reminded him a little of himself? He mercilessly squashed those feelings; he was nothing more than a puppet, a servant to do his masters bidding. There was no place within his heart for feeble emotions like empathy.

Out of respect for the child, he silently promised himself to keep her real identity a secret; it wasn't as if this small detail was important to his master. His resolve strengthened and with a small sigh he turned his face away from the girl and exited her mind.

His last fleeting thought before he was consumed from the, by now, familiar bright light was of wonder, at why he felt so victorious from this small act of defiance.

-_Dream Sequence:_-

She was eager to meet her parents. She couldn't wait to show them the perfect mark she'd gotten in her literacy test! Excitement as her driving force; she almost sprinted the entire way home.

You'd wonder what kind of parents would allow their six year old daughter to commute to and from school alone. She had managed to convince them that she'd be fine, the local elementary school and daycare was only five minutes away after all. Commuting alone to school was the first step in her training, this part of her plan was supposed to allow her to practice her stamina. Her parents' reluctant consents would have pleased her, if her father had not sent his men to secretly stalk her. She knew she was only a child but with the men not even bothering to utilize their stealth skills, she would need to be an idiot not to notice them. Honestly, she was surprised that the locals haven't reported any sightings of strange man exhibiting stalker-like characteristics already.

She slowed down to a light trot as she saw her destination come into view, her mother didn't like it when she overexerted herself. The usual warning bells hadn't been triggered this time, had those men finally learned to conceal their presences? She brushed those thoughts aside as she closed the front gates of her house behind her.

This was the first time she'd gotten perfect on any exam; she used to be your average student, going along with the flow. Her grades were improving as she recently had been putting more efforts into her studies.

It wasn't that she was finding the curriculum hard, far from that actually. She knew she would be able to ace all the tests with no problem. Getting a perfect score on everything would make her stand out though, and she didn't want to be isolated more than she already was; but if it made her parents happy that she was getting better marks, she would give them what they wanted.

"I'm home!" She didn't wait for a reply, while she normally would have been suspicious from the lack of response –her mother always being home to greet her- anticipation had temporarily clouded her senses. This would show her father that she was worth paying attention to, that she was not some below average child; then maybe, he would visit her more often.

She could count with her hands the number of times her father returned home in the past three years, and even then he never stayed for more than a week. She hated him for making her mother feel so lonely. She never went through her decision confront him on this issue, not having the heart to after seeing the way her mother's face would light up every time he came home.

She had hoped that if her grades had gotten better, it would distract her mother from her sorrows. First thing she needed to do was show her grades to her father, and she knew exactly where to find him. He could always be found sleeping in the living room, his sleeping form often found sprawled unceremoniously on the Tatami mats, usually accompanied by a few scattered empty beer cans. She gestured to open the door when some noises made her pause. Voices could be heard conversing within the room; some people were visiting her father than. She wasn't allowed to interfere on these occasions, but this time she just couldn't wait she hoped they wouldn't mind. She slid open the door and stepped through. It was strange, all the voices immediately quieted down.

"Papa, look what I got back fr-"

The words died off in her throat as she took in the scene in front of her. The first thing she noticed was the blood, its metallic smell filled her nose, making her almost puke on the spot. She immediately felt faint, her senses going haywire from the sudden change in environment.

'_What…_'

There was no one in the room, it was as if the voices she'd just heard were nothing but echoes made by the wind. Dread weighed down her stomach as her eyes surveyed the room; besides the massive amount of blood splattered everywhere, nothing seemed to be out of place.

'_Oh kami, please let them be alright._' Her breaths were becoming more and more intense as thoughts on her parents' wellbeing became more morbid with each passing second. Test paper lying forgotten on the floor, she stumbled slightly on her feet as she backed out of the room and slid the door shut.

She took a moment to calm herself down, in situations like this, she had to think rationally. That's it; her parents might not even be home. Her father probably took her mother out for a relaxing stroll around the neighborhood. Although a silky whisper from the back of her thoughts told her otherwise.

She was suddenly able to process her jumbled thoughts more clearly. It was as if a gentle wind had swept across her mind, sweeping away any unnecessary thoughts. Some more whispers directed her to piece the facts together. It was then that she knew.

She slowly ascended the stairs, her body as if it was an automaton, moving without thought. Her mind already knew what she'd find once she reached the second floor.

Sure enough she soon saw the unmoving body of her mother, sprawled limply on the floor; she didn't stop long to check her condition, any signs of life in those dull empty eyes had been long since dimmed. She swept her hands across the woman's eyelids, shutting them shut for the last time in this lifetime. It was the only thing she could do for her mother at the moment.

Her short legs carefully stepped over the corpse and continued on walking. Her goal was not to rescue her parents; no, she knew there was no more hope for them.

Her mother had been killed long before she arrived, and her father, his life was slipping away rapidly. The reason she was going towards her father was not to save him, she knew it was too late; she needed to hear his last words.

It was easy to just face the facts at the moment, but once she got settled down she knew it would all come rushing back.

She suddenly stopped walking; there was a single strand of piano wire in her path, it was tightened so that most people would not notice when they break through it. She snapped the thin wire using a chopping motion with her hand, at this point it didn't matter if her enemies were informed of her presence. She continued walking, allowing the warm, confident voice from the back of her consciousness to guide her. _He is inside your bedroom_.

Her hand clenched firmly around the knob of her room's door. She had to hurry. As calm as she was there was only so much mental strain a child could withstand before they collapsed. She gently pushed open the door, her heart rate once again rising.

She remembered the day she first received her room, she had been about five years old then. At first she had hated sleeping by herself. The constant dread of monsters creeping out from beneath her bed and snatching her away under the cover of darkness kept her awake. Her parents had been very patient with her, explaining to her that monsters were just figments of her imagination, and that she could always visit them in their room whenever she wanted. She might have been but a child, but she knew better than to interrupt any private time her mother had with her father. She would of course comfort her when it was once again time for her father to leave.

She could barely recognize her room. Her desk, chair, and bed; every one of the decors she owned were displaced and looked like they had gone through a hurricane. The walls were splattered with some kind of substance. She didn't need the voice to tell her what it was; the overwhelming metallic smell alone was evidence enough. She didn't turn on the light, not wanting to see the results of the fight that undoubtedly took place within her room.

She scanned what was left of her room, trusting her enhanced senses to guide her. Then she found him, hidden behind two bookshelves that had fallen over themselves. She quickly made her way to him, there wasn't much time left. She slowly pried the wreckage that was the bookshelves apart.

She saw through the dimmed light passing through the room's curtains that some parts of her father's body had been pierced with parts of the wreckage. She squashed the guilt felt from her helplessness to dull his pain, she needed him to stay awake and any more blood loss from moving around would probably knock him unconscious.

"…papa?" She gently touched his body. She didn't want to add to his pain by injuring him any further. He didn't respond. Her eyes widened as thoughts of her being too late ran through her head.

_Relax; he's still alive for now_. Her heart thumping loudly, she frantically checked his pulse. It was faint; but she could feel the slow pulses of his heart struggling to continue beating. Her own heart still thumping rapidly, she allowed her gaze to travel up to her father's face. Under the dim lighting he looked even paler than she expected; she could hear his labored breathes from all the pain he no doubt felt.

_He only has a few seconds left_. She shook his body again, this time a little rougher. She was running out of time; in her desperation she didn't notice her grip on her father harden.

Suddenly she noticed her father flinch; she looked hopefully at his face. Her father let out a faint groan from the strain his body was under, soon his eyes flickered open.

_Hurry_…_he's losing blood too fast!_' She tried to get his attention,

"papa!" She called again, "papa!" His expression was a mix of recognition and pain. He seemed to say something but it was too low for her to hear.

_Move closer, hurry_. She leaned closer and placed her left ear near her father's face, she was able to distinguish some of the words her father was wheezing out now.

"…quick…leave…mistake…love you…find…docu…ments…strong…organi..za...tion…sor-! "

Before he could finish his sentence, his body was hit with a strong force, almost knocking him out of her hands. She looked upon him with shock; there was a bullet sized hole to the side of his head.

He was dead.

Her body went limp, simply unable to comprehend the sudden loss of life. It didn't matter he was dying anyway; he had been killed in her presence.

Nothing else seemed to register in her mind except the death of her father. Had her senses not been better than the average human's, she wouldn't have heard the faint sound of laughter coming from the shadows of the room. She should have remembered the extra company, but fatigue seemed to be taking its toll on her senses and intuition.

She clenched her teeth; she was in a very disadvantageous situation.

_Dodge_. She was barely able to react in time, a slightly smoking hole laid where she had been just a second ago. What was happening?

_Drop down._ The top of her head felt like it was on fire. Is this for real?

_Don't move_. Why was this happening to her?

'_Damn it! Why can't I pinpoint the exact locations of the intruders?_' At this rate her weariness was going to get the better of her.

_Roll to the left. Jump. Bow head. Move back. _How did she know where to move? Damn it all!

Her enemies were clearly set on destroying her, along with the house it seemed. This was not looking good at all; she was starting to see after images. Any escape plans she managed to think up that actually had some possibility her surviving unfortunately did not involve taking her parent's bodies with her.

'_I'm sorry…papa…mama…_' She blinked back tears; she would come back later, no matter what she would give her parents a proper burial.

It was time to put her plan into action. Her budding analytical abilities told her that this particular plan only had a 66% success rate, it was the best one she had. She needed to wait for the right moment.

BANG! She screamed as loud as she could. Now while they were distracted, she needed to act fast. She launched herself towards the door; her enemies had already regained their focus.

Her only advantage was her smaller and slimmer figure, which should allow her to evade the larger men more easily; even then, it seemed to be hindering her as they were quickly catching up to her. It was stupid of her to hope that they wouldn't have studied the layout of the house beforehand. Cursing her fumbling hands she tried to unlock the front door.

'_Why wasn't it opening?_' They were behind her now, slowly closing in, like a predator does to its prey.

'…_They locked it_!' It was the only explanation; she could almost feel the smugness of her enemies as she watched them close in on her.

'_But…the voice…it was never wrong_… _No, no, no! There had to be…' _She frantically searched her mind for an answer._ 'The back door._' She waited another second before launching herself toward her assaulters; this should give her some extra time.

She pushed her way through the surprised assassins. She could not risk making any mistakes if she wanted to survive.

'_There!_' She slid the back door open; not bothering to close it as she knew it'll be a waste of precious time. The night air was truly refreshing, it allowed her to forget her exhaustion if only temporarily. She quickly jumped down from the wooden patio, being six it was slightly difficult a task.

_Dodge left_. She didn't question the voice and hurriedly hopped to the left, not a second later she could feel a bullet soar past where she had been standing before. '_Too close…_'

She continued on running, weaving left and right to dodge bullets every now and then. She gulped, what she did next would determine whether she would successfully escape capture or not. Slamming the back gate behind her, she knew she couldn't stall any longer. She calmed herself down by taking a deep breath. It was time to put the results of her training into action.

-_Flashback_: Tsumi at four years of age-

At four years of age you weren't expected to be able to uphold a normal conversation, let alone read and partially understand complicated tomes, but Tsunayomi was not your average child.

She had began walking on her own two feet in the first year of her life, uttered her first word at 12 months old, and put together her first complete sentence not two months later. These quick developments had abruptly stopped around the time she turned two. People considered this normal and brushed it off saying things like, "your little boy just started sprouting early" and, "it's nothing to worry about." The truth was Tsumi had just stopped showing off her growing intelligence, not wanting to seem arrogant or insufferable in the eyes of her peers. It was already a little too late, with the little sense of outside awareness that toddlers develop early on, her peers could already tell that she was different from them. By the time she turned four years of age, Tsumi had well passed the knowledge level of a fourth grader.

It had been a pleasant summer day so far; the warm temperatures along with the gentle breeze lured many outside to enjoy the nice weather. Tsumi had somehow persuaded her mother, who had wanted to go clothes shopping, to drop her off at the library.

One of the many things that separated Tsumi from others of her age would be her logical and knowledge seeking mind. Instead of playing outside, she would rather take advantage of the library's temporary shortage of activity to read more books.

Today she had wanted to focus on finding ways to improve her flexibility, strength, and stamina. Ever since reading a notebook that was apparently left behind by her father, she never viewed her surroundings the same again. She wasn't able to comprehend parts of the notes, much to her ire, but she did gain some insight into things her father did that she was sure wasn't required of a construction worker.

These new pieces of information triggered Tsumi's curiosity, a trait she did share with children her age. She had been frustrated at first, no matter how much she looked into various job descriptions, she had been unable to find one that made workers need to "plan accidents" and "eliminate potential threats."

She had never thought she'd find what she was looking for in a shady tome titled "The Underworld: Polluting Society." She had found the dusty book one day while browsing the Historic Events section of the library; she remembered how she had been trying to escape from some disruptive conversations, courtesy of a visiting group of rather unruly children.

The book was enlightening; this was the first time she had been introduced to the darker side of society. Even though Tsumi was considered mature for her age, her emotional intelligence was still developing, so her reactions to this new found knowledge had been expected if not a little confusing.

She had been downright upset at the way the author had been slandering these so called "dark" groups, mainly the Yakuza and the Mafia, in a way, he had been insulting her father's name. For her next few visits to the library, Tsumi had read as many books that mentioned "dark" groups as she could. In the end, she had not been able to determine what her father really did for a living; she didn't have her father's notebook anymore as he had returned to take it back, she had of course cursed herself for not photocopying anything beforehand. Still, she somehow managed to narrow the choices down to a select few professions, taking into consideration how much money her father afforded to send home.

That brought her to the present; she had concluded that if her father really was working within a shadier line of work, she would have to take it upon herself to prepare safety and defense measures. There wasn't any guarantee that other enemy groups wouldn't target her along with her mother for easy hostages.

The chances of her getting strong enough to protect herself as well as her mother were quite slim, she was most likely going against full grown adults after all. This time she had searched the Sports and Exercise sections of the library, taking down quite the amount of books. They all proved to be pretty much useless because the workouts were written with an older audience in mind, people with fully developed bones basically.

It had been about three hours, and Tsumi was getting tired of reading through books that she knew wouldn't help in the end. She was about to give up the search for the day when a bright blue book caught her attention. For some reason, it didn't seem like it belonged in the section it was shelved in.

She pulled it out from its place in the shelves; it wouldn't hurt to read one more book before she left. She quickly made her way back towards the table where her reading materials were stacked on. Looking at all the volumes she took down, Tsumi raised an eyebrow; she hadn't realized just how many books she had browsed through today. It was going to be a pain to put everything back.

Finally her attention returned to the brightly coloured book in her hands. The book was titled "_To Escape over Two Walls_," it wasn't the most compelling title she had come upon, but it certainly was one of the more bizarre ones. One thing that confused her about the book was that there was no mention of an author; the year it was published wasn't printed either for that matter. Brushing them off as misprints, Tsumi flipped through the book, scanning the pages for anything of interest.

This book was certainly fascinating, there were barely any headings, but the ones she had found were all on how to perform simple actions. She wondered how explaining how to jump could possibly cover 16 pages. She grew irritated the more she looked through the book; she needed to learn how to improve her skills, not learn how to keep her balance. Nevertheless, she continued reading; she felt as if she would find something interesting soon. Her intuition was right, within the next few pages she found a heading titled "Add Everything Together." The next few sentences would introduce her to a whole new concept of running in a straight line.

"_Parkour: developing one's abilities to overcome obstacles physically or mentally; the ability to conquer obstacles in one's way swiftly and efficiently…"_

She had been entranced as soon as she read that one sentence, to think that such an amazing ability existed. Even as a child there were some less straining beginner exercises she could start working on, increasing the difficulty and intensity as she grew stronger and bigger. The possibilities were endless!

Thus began her training.

-_End Flashback_ -

'_Breathe in... Breathe out... Breathe in... Breathe out...Don't give up Tsumi!' _She had managed to evade capture for now. The current problem was a matter of how long it would take for her pursuers to give up the search, if they ever did. Currently she was hiding on the roof of a house; her small figure could barely be seen behind the chimney she was leaning against. Even with the successful execution of her plan, she wasn't able to shake off the feeling that the situation would soon start to deteriorate.

She had just recovered from using her Parkour skills to overcome a few buildings; it had been much more strenuous than she had thought it'd be. Her strained muscles told her that she would need to work out more after this was all over. Still, she couldn't help think that it wasn't bad for a first attempt. She just needed some more real world experience in the future.

'_What motive do I have now to train?_' The main reason for all her long hours of commitment was so that she could protect her family, now that they were all gone, why was she even bothering to escape? Realizing how dark her line of thought was becoming, she quickly slapped both of her cheeks with her hands. It wasn't like her to continue on like this, she couldn't allow herself to sink any deeper into depression. When this was over, she would have time to brood, right now her main concern was to come to her senses and find a way to somehow get to safety.

She couldn't stay here forever, she wasn't arrogant enough to think that nobody would consider looking for her on the roofs, besides; she wasn't the only person alive who trained in the art of Parkour. Silently she moved out from her position behind the chimney,

_'I wonder how far they went to search for me…_' It should have been about an hour already, plenty of time for them to move the search away from this area.

_'You normally wouldn't expect a frightened and traumatized child to stay in one place after all.' _Still, she scanned the area around the house to be safe. When no suspicious activity was noted, she made her way down from the roof of the house.

After training for two years, Tsumi had gained better coordination, gotten stronger, and was well on her way to gaining the nimbleness of a feline. She was quite proud of her accomplishments, of course it wasn't to say that she had mastered Parkour, but her skills were not something one could easily brush off. The only thing she was lacking at the moment was experience, there were barely any chances for her to put her skills into action, and Tsumi was not willing to irritate some gangsters just so she could experiment.

'_What would be an intellectual course of action right now?_' Tsumi mumbled to herself, she allowed her strategic mind to figure out the best plan to carry out. Suddenly a low rumbling sound emitted from her stomach. She sighed, '_I guess food is the main priority right now_.' Tsumi set off walking towards the market area, intent on finding her favorite convenience store; she was thankful that she always kept some spare change with her.

Still wary of being sighted, Tsumi made use of her stealth and agility by travelling within the shadows.

Finally she reached the main road; it made her feel a lot safer being in the presence of others. She tried to act as normal as possible, walking in a laid-back pace, trying to blend in with the mass of citizens. She didn't want to stand out after all, although that proved to be a little hard as her tattered state of dress drew in some looks. She soon saw her destination come into view and made her way towards the tiny building with a growing smile on her face, '_there really isn't any other store like it!_'

The building in question was but a modest family store, it was located near the intersection between the main roads and an adjacent street. It wasn't as modern as the other convenience stores surrounding it, it didn't matter to Tsumi though; she would always prefer it to the others.

She pulled up her hood before entering the store, as she always did since she discovered her father's journal two years ago. The security cameras could be used against her after all. Hiding her identity whenever she could have long since become a habit; the underworld had many ways of tracking targets. A bell rang out as she pushed open the door. Nowadays most convenience stores chose to switch to the newer, and more customer friendly automatic sliding doors with their electronic beeping sounds; to Tsumi, the ringing of the bell brought back nostalgic memories.

"Welcome to Aoi Cielo!"

'_Lemone-san's cheerful as always…_' Another reason to like this store, you were guaranteed to always feel welcome; although she had sometimes wondered why she hadn't seen any other employees besides Lemone in the building. Once, when she had bothered to ask, she had been reassured by the older female that there were indeed others. She let the subject go after getting an answer; the other employees were probably working in the storage rooms or on delivery duty.

She didn't reply as usual, if anything were to happen, her voice could be used to track her. She quickly browsed through the store, looking for anything that appeared appetizing to her at the moment.

'_Bento (eel, spiced egg…), Tiramisu, sandwich (only tuna left), Onigiri... What's on sale? Sushi!_ _Just what I needed_! Tsumi loved eating healthy and fresh foods, Greek salad being one of her all time favourites. While Sushi could be considered a "fatty type" food depending on the ingredients used, Tsumi loved it. She made her way towards the cold beverages section, her choice already made.

_'Nothing beats cold strawberry milk_!' The sweat creamy taste, it was worlds different from the sugar filled sweets and cakes her classmates often bought!

'_Aloe Vera drinks are nice too… a little on the sweet side most of the time, but refreshing._' Of course it would always be second place when compared to an iced and slightly sweetened green tea drink.

"That'll be 780 yen please!" Tsumi snapped out of her trance, she really needed to break that habit of hers. Realizing how much time she wasted, she quickly paid the cheery cashier and left the store to find a quiet place to eat; the bag with her food in hand.

After finishing her dinner Tsumi stood up and stretched, it would have seemed like a relaxing evening in the park, if only she didn't have those lunatics on her trail. She quietly made her way out of the bushes she was hiding in and towards the garbage bins to dispose of her litter.

'_Now that I'm well rested, I should do something about this unfortunate situation…_' With most of her energy restored, she almost felt optimistic about the whole thing.

She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling in the gentle night's breeze. It was normal for a person to dislike certain weather conditions; Tsumi was different, she didn't dislike any type of weather. To her, weather conditions were unique in their own way. She seemed to feel different depending on what type of weather they were having. If it was stormy, she'd feel somewhat energized; raining, she'd feel calm. The differences were subtle, so Tsumi didn't think much of it.

Suddenly she felt the suffocating need to run away. Somewhere, anywhere, she just needed to get away from the park. It seemed like her sixth sense had enough strength to send her that final warning, it was gone now, and any more strain and her mentality could have shattered (at least that was what it felt like, she didn't want to find out if it really would though.)

_Run; run any don't look back._ So she ran; darting behind trees and jumping over railings, she must not be caught.

Everything disappeared into darkness.

* * *

She was in a state of exhilaration, she was almost home; it wouldn't be long until her parents see her exam marks. She suddenly felt a strange feeling of déjà vu. Brushing off the feeling, she closed the front gate behind her. Now she had to find her parents on the second floor. '_Why am I so sure they'd be there again?_' Even with the periods of time her father left home, her parents would always greet her from the first floor. She shivered as the sense of déjà vu ran through her again.

"I'm home…" Her words died off in her throat as her eyes adjusted to what was in front of her. Red, everything was red; the walls, the doors, even the staircase. What was happening? Her senses were overwhelmed by the smell. She fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Tsumi…"

Where was she? '_I can't see_!'

"Tsumi…where…are you?"

Why was her father looking for her, she was right here. '_Why_ _can't I see anything? There's nothing around me, just white everywhere..._'

"Tsu…mi…"

"Papa?" suddenly color returned to her world, she could see again.

"Let…me…touch you…" She turned to face him, only to let out a scream.

He wasn't her papa, _it_ wasn't her father! That _monster_ in front of her could barely be recognized as human; its limbs were contorted into unnatural angles, opened gashes and wounds were distributed throughout its body as if they were tattoos. The only reason she had even mistaken it with her father was because of its voice. She noticed opened wounds where his eyes were supposed to be, that had been the reason why she had not been seen.

"Who…are you?" She blurted out suddenly; '_where was this place?_'

"I am your father… Tsumi…" He was slowly heading towards her.

"No…you're not! My father's dead!" She replied angrily, it was cruel, playing such a joke on her.

"I am your _father_!" He unexpectedly roared out, and charged towards her.

She was frozen in place, suddenly at a loss for what to do. She stared at the pieces of flesh that was steadily rotting off from the man's body. How did she get into this situation?

She suddenly felt herself being pushed down by the man. She fought back, trying not to think about the gore that was falling onto her. Was she going to be killed here?

"-kay..." She stopped struggling, and looked up at the man in confusion.

'_Why did he weaken his grip all of a sudden… and was that an expression of concern on his face?_' Tsumi was getting more and more confused by the second, the fact that she was hearing a continuous ringing noise within her head did not help.

"What happened?" asked the living corpse.

'_Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?_' Tsumi didn't bother to respond, she just wanted to be rid of the splitting headache she was sporting.

"I guess you should wake up than," continued the man. Her eyes widened,

'_what…?_'

For a moment her vision faltered; then she woke up.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry if some of you are annoyed with any poor sentence structure or incorrect grammar that may be in my story; I read the chapter over five times trying to find any places where I might have made errors in.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

_Feedback would be loved!_

_Please tell me what you think of my story so far!_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Please refer to chapter one

* * *

Last Chapter:

_"I guess you should wake up than," continued the man. Her eyes widened,_

_'_what_…?'_

_For a moment her vision faltered; then she woke up._

* * *

Chapter 3: **Intertwining paths**

White and green walls; this was the first thing Tsumi saw when she had woken up. The next thing she'd noticed was the faint but familiar scent that lingered in the air, which she soon linked to the smell that was commonly associated with hospitals and clinics. She was in some kind of medical office then, but the question was why? From what she could recall of the events transpiring up to the moment she lost consciousness, she should have woken up strapped to a chair or at least at on the cold gravel pavement of that alleyway. With her luck, she could have very well not woken up at all. '_Oh, bad Tsumi_,' She had started thinking of the worst possible scenarios again, a bad habit that she should really stop cultivating.

She wiped some sweat off her forehead as she thought back to that last dream, or rather nightmare she had just woken up from. She was now aware that she had been dreaming, but the realism of the details really unnerved her. She could have sworn that the first dream she had about her running home was an actual memory. The dreams that came after that one though, fit into the characteristics of a nightmare.

Tsumi tried to remember what had happened the last time she'd been conscious. She shuddered as she began to recall some of the events that had occurred. A truly horrific end to what was supposed to be a great day.

After those men had gotten bored of the game of cat and mouse, they had cornered her. Even now, as she sat there summoning up what she could remember of that night shivers ran down her spine at the thought of her confrontation with those beasts.

She was here now, with no sign of been bound or shackled to a place. That meant she's somehow managed to escape her pursuers, a feat she'd honestly thought near impossible back then. Yet she had done it. The image of a fence flashed across her mind. No way, she'd actually climbed that thing? With how tired she had been, she had to give herself props. That was really all she could remember up to for the moment, Tsumi wasn't in a rush, and the memories would come back to her in time. That was enough reminiscing, there were better things to do than sitting around doing nothing, especially if the possibility that she was in enemy territory was still there.

Considering the lack of confinement and the hospitality she'd already received from the bandaging of her scratches, the possibility of that being true seemed pretty low right now. If she was safe now, then what happened to her pursuers? She remembered falling from the top of the fence, and strangely enough multiple pairs of glowing eyes. She would ponder on it later, she was just thankful for being alive at the moment.

Although, how had she ended up on a bed in this kind of setting in the first place? She was certain that she had passed out from all the stress on in that alleyway, and unless she'd somehow managed to sleepwalk into some random doctor's clinic, Tsumi couldn't think of a reason for her to be here. The minor injuries she'd gotten from running around had been treated professionally too. That meant that she'd been found by at least one person.

She allowed her eyes to wonder around the room. It was a fairly sized rectangular shaped space, and she was apparently occupying one of the three beds that were cramped together in one of its corners, each bed being accompanied by a privacy screen. She noticed a makeshift working area taking up one of the corners of the room, and there was a wooden desk surrounded by some filing cabinets. Tsumi also noted that there were two possible escape routes, them being two doors situated on opposite sides of the area. Should she make a run for it? She was truly grateful to the person or people that had helped her, but if she stayed too long, she could possibly endanger their lives. As much as she wanted to stay and express her gratitude in person, the memory of crazed eyes promising vengeance came into mind making her shiver, she now knew that she wasn't safe to be seen with anymore.

She pondered briefly if she was in an insane asylum and that everything that she remembered happening were mere figments of her imagination; it wouldn't seem that strange a possibility with the events she had experienced thus far.

"What should I do with you… oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?" She was so startled by the sudden input of the stranger that she noticeably tensed. Seeing the strange man not making any move to continue speaking, Tsumi decided to play a battle of wits. This was the second time her trained senses had failed her and she was more than a little irked. She forced herself to sit up, while every part of her felt bruised, she wouldn't allow him to think her weak.

She remained silent, wary of the man. Her eyes scanned his person for weapons; he didn't seem to have any. Her observation gave her a quick profile of the stranger; he looked middle aged, and about six feet tall, he had brown spiky hair that matched the colour of his eyes, finally, he was dressed in a formal white medical suit. He didn't really seem like a doctor, his aura seemed a little bit too… weary? She then stared right into his eyes, searching within him for any intent to wish her harm. She was slightly unnerved at how he gazed right back with unwavering eyes. In the end, finding him not a potential threat, Tsumi broke eye contact and allowed herself to relax a little from her defensive stance.

She glanced at him expectantly, silently asking him to explain the current situation. Her gesture made the man raise an eyebrow in question before giving his response, all the while sporting a look of faint amusement.

"Well little miss, as you're no doubt wondering, I'm a doctor. I had just left my office for the day, when to my surprise I found you lying on the ground about two hours ago."

Not as much time had passed as she thought then, it was hard to believe that just a few hours ago her life had been flipped around. She brought her attention back to the doctor. "Why were you wondering around such a dangerous area anyway?" His face took on a stern yet exasperated expression. "You know, your parents are probably going frantic right now, searching for their missing daughter!"

Tsumi upon hearing the last phrase clenched her hands. This went unnoticed to the doctor, who continued his tirade with the intention of stirring up some guilt in the child who he thought had spent a little too much time playing that day;

"You shouldn't make your parents worry like that. You know that the winter season is nearing right? It gets very chilly around this time of the year." Deciding to have some fun with the kid, the doctor continued in a deliberate thoughtful tone, still not sensing the danger he'd gotten himself into, "If you continue making them worry like this, your parents might not want to keep you anymore, who knows maybe they will adopt a new daughter to replace you!"

The man now stood in front of her, he crouched down until he was at eye level and looked intently at her. "You don't want them to leave you do you little girl?"

'_He doesn't know anything. If it's a reply he wants, it'll be a reply he gets!_' She put on her best shocked face, and hoped with all her might that he'd fall for her acting. She sniffled a few times, just to make it seem more authentic, and then she allowed her eyes to water. The doctor, realizing what was about to happen, tried his best to prevent the incoming waterworks; the smirk that had been on his face immediately turning to an awkward frown.

Tsumi started trembling, as she felt the tears dripping down her cheeks she started sobbing. She raised her hands towards her eyes to enhance the effect. She could see the man now sporting a guilty look, this made her smirk inwardly. '_Yeah, you messed up pretty bad_.'

"Woah, look, I'm sorry alright? I was just joking, your parents won't leave you, please stop crying?"

Tsumi resisted the urge to roll her eyes, typical response; just apologize and hope the person calms down.

'_I'm going to make this a little tougher for you,_' she cried out louder, this time also making sure to shout out some names like "meanie" and "scary doctor". The stressed man was covering his ears with his hands, eyes wide and overall looking like he was suffering.

'_I wonder what he would do if I took it a level higher…_" She was really enjoying this.

"Alright, I sincerely apologize for making you cry, I won't do it again!" He said while bowing.

'_That's more like it! I just wish I had a video camera with me…" _She immediately quieted down, still sniffling from time to time to make her point stand.

She looked up to the victim of her manipulations; she had the upper hand right now. It seemed that this man had been the one to give her first aid; bandages covered some of the larger cuts she'd received. She would have liked to stay and express her gratitude, but she had already spent long enough recovering from her earlier struggle. The early hours of the chase were the most essential; it was the period of time when the enemies would be most actively searching for her, and she couldn't just idly wait around for them to catch up to her could she?

Now she was sure that with the man being a doctor and a supposedly responsible adult in general, he wouldn't allow a patient to be discharged so soon. Therefore, she had to find some way to distract him long enough for her to make an escape. With how easily he caved in from her earlier acting, she decided to try that route again.

Tsumi stared into the eyes of the older man and started letting out some sobs once more. The doctor, clearly not wanting another episode, immediately tried to find out what went wrong this time.

"Please don't start crying again, tell me what's wrong, did I do something to scare you?" He didn't seem to have a lot of experience working with children; well she could work use to her advantage. She put on her best puppy eyed look and said while holding her stomach,

"I'm hungry…"

Shamal was known for many things, being a womanizer, a medicinal doctor, and as one of the most famous assassins of the underworld; after working with many colleagues and for many clients, with an emphasis on the female ones. He liked to think he was immune to the cursed puppy eyes; it appeared that he had found his match in a child. How could he say no to those sad stares? So he answered with a sigh,

"Alright, I'm going to find you some snacks, lay back down until I come back, you need to rest." He honestly had no idea what happened to the child, he'd been curious about her situation ever since he saw the girl's battered form in that alleyway. No matter how he thought about it, the points didn't add up to mere exhaustion. His initial check up on the girl told him that she had been over exerting herself, but there had also been signs that were often only found on the victims of a traumatic experience. He intended to find out the details soon, after he fetched the girl her snack.

After she made sure he had gone through the door, Tsumi slowly lowered herself from the bed; she needed to get away before he came back. She now knew that one of the doors led to a storage room of some sort, which left the other door; hopefully it would lead her out. Now that she thought about it, there weren't any windows placed in the room; it wasn't unusual as many offices located in buildings didn't have the luxury, but Tsumi never felt right without a view of the outside world within her reach.

She slowly made her way towards the door, her bruises making it harder to walk then she had expected; each step making her want to groan in discomfort. She was at the door now. Just as she was about to turn the knob, Tsumi felt a stinging sensation near her left shoulder making her smack it out of reflex. She saw a mosquito fly away in her peripheral vision. Strange, those insects usually thrive during the summer. All other thoughts she had about the creature left her head as she felt a spell of dizziness hit her.

She suddenly felt very weak, knees almost buckling beneath her as a wave of sleepiness came onto her. She struggled to lift her eyelids which felt heavy at the moment. She saw her world become distorted; objects twirled and merged together, effectively confusing her. Just as she was about to collapse, she felt herself being caught by firm arms.

"Young lady, I thought I told you to stay put?" The doctor's voice held a tone of exasperation as well as some amusement. She idly wondered if that was how he always sounded like.

Tsumi didn't have the strength to reply, her body didn't seem to be listening to her. She felt herself being picked up and carried back towards her bed; it seemed the doctor was set on restoring her back to health. This would put a damper on her plans for a while, she didn't protest the opportunity to rest though, and she didn't think she would be able to do much being so drained anyway. Maybe it would be best if she stayed for one more night, once she regained her energy, she would leave the doctor; she was endangering him just by staying there.

With those last thoughts Tsumi drifted off to sleep once more, leaving the bemused doctor to watch over her.

* * *

*CYHM? – Linebreak*

"Oi! Get back here you little brat!" Shamal pivoted around in order keep the little girl he'd taken under his wing for the past week in sight. She was currently driving him crazy by refusing to leave the garden park he had brought her to. Oh, there was also the fact that her ignorant words had driven away more than half of the women he had been seeing.

Tsumi giggled as she sprinted through the grassy meadows, taking in the view of the lush plant life around her even as she ran.

"Try and catch me Shamu-chan!" She shouted back, picking up her speed. She giggled again; she could almost feel the exasperated glare being pointed her way. The brown haired doctor never quite got used to the little nickname she gave him. He didn't do much to correct her, thinking that it was the best he would get from such a young child. Tsumi had continued to call him by that name just to see his annoyed face, it was rather amusing.

It had been about a week since she had met Doctor Shamal. She still remembered the morning of her first day in his care. She had understandably been confused when she awoke, and was proud that she had managed to stop herself from lashing out at the doctor. Once she got used to her bearings, she made her first attempt to persuade the man into allowing her to leave. She had been pleased when he gave his consent, only to backtrack when he asked her for her home address and other details. Her acting skills were really put to the test trying to get out of that awkward situation.

Her second attempt failed in the same way as the one from the night before. Tsumi had tried to sneak out once again, and as a part of her had expected, she felt the same prick on her bare skin as the night before when she succumbed to the spell. She was pretty sure that it was not a coincidence, remembering how Shamal had strangely been there just in time to catch her body when he was supposed to be outside buying breakfast, only cemented her suspicious that he was somehow involved.

That attempt had cost her the precious morning; it was not until late into the afternoon that she felt enough strength to try again. She'd tried to run away about two more times that first day, and around twice more the next. Eventually she gave up on utilizing the same tactic, realizing how she would only lose more time if she kept up her attempts.

That brought her to the present day where the doctor had decided to allow her some fresh air in order to celebrate her bruises and minor gashes healing. She'd settled into a pattern of observation for the past few days, studying the doctor. She found out the regular times when he would be called out, trying to see if she could be successful in making use of the time. Now that he'd brought her to this large expense of nature though, there was no way she would not use the setting to her advantage.

Tsumi ignored the sinking feeling that appeared in her chest whenever she thought of leaving Shamal. She admitted that she'd grown fond of the eccentric doctor, it really only made her berate herself as she had tried so hard not to. It was hard not to warm up to the man though, his random acts of help, intention hidden behind exasperated gestures made him endearing to her. He'd provided her with new clothes when he realized she'd been wearing the same set of clothing on the second day, saying the tattered clothing she had on were a distraction. There were also those times when he sat her down and proceeded to engage her in a conversation, his way of checking her condition. His not so smothering personality made his a likeable person to Tsumi. Yet even though she enjoyed spending time with the man, she couldn't bring herself to trust him.

She had the suspicion for the past few days now, that Shamal wasn't your average family doctor. It wasn't only his connection with the mosquito bites that made him suspicious. Often, she would catch him dazing off into the distance, looking forlorn. Other times she would see the unmistakable anguish flashing across his eyes. She wasn't saying that most doctors were apathetic and emotionless, but there was something about him that set her intuition off. She didn't question him though, everyone had their secrets.

She stepped out from within the shadows of a tree she had been using for cover, spotting the man she'd been thinking about just a few meters in front of her, she waved him over.

"What do you have to say for yourself brat?" Shamal asked when he caught up to her. She idly noted how he didn't seem out of breath at all.

She pouted and said, "It wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know that girl you were hitting didn't know you were seeing 10 other women?" He was probably seeing more than that, but Tsumi didn't want to delve too much into Shamal's private life.

"It was 24, but over the past week you somehow brought it down to less than half that amount!" Shamal responded angrily.

'_He still had 10 contacts? Damn it, I was hoping to bring it down to fewer than five at least_.' Tsumi still couldn't figure out how the doctor had managed to acquire so many girlfriends; sure he was nice on the eyes, but seeing 24 different women was too much even for a player like him. It seemed like the remaining 10 had deeper feelings for the doctor, or they just didn't mind sharing. Tsumi stopped pondering any further into the matter; the subject was a little unpleasant to think about, she was still young after all.

Tsumi held back a giggle as she remembered the many slaps the doctor had received from his ex-girlfriends. She replied lightly, trying to feign innocence, "how was I supposed to know none of your girlfriends knew you were a playboy?" Besides, she disliked perverts, and Shamal was close to becoming big one in her eyes.

Just as the doctor looked like he was about to snap, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Ungrateful brat…" Shamal guessed it was partly his fault for allowing things to spiral out of control, he was weak to beauties and many females saw that as a chance to latch onto him.

He looked upon the young girl he'd taken under his wing with appraising eyes. The past week had done her some good; the scrapes and gashes she been afflicted with were healing nicely, she was set to be discharged any day now. As stubborn as he was to admit it, he'd grown fond of the young child; the new perspective she had brought into his life was rather refreshing, although the pensive expressions that would sometimes appear on her face were a cause for concern. Her eyes would sometimes take on an empty look that just looked wrong on the face of a child; it made him think about what the child had gone through.

He gave her a small smile, and told her the update on her condition. He saw an unrecognizable emotion flicker through her eyes before the girl grinned up at him. The kid really was an enigma; he had acquaintances that could conceal their emotions only half as well as her.

"I need to use the restroom" the child suddenly stated. Nodding to show he'd heard her, Shamal went to relax on one of the benches situated in the area around the restrooms.

He used the extra time to ponder on the mystery that was Tsunami Aoizora. Every time he tried to bring her family into conversations, the child would close herself off until the topic was changed. It made him wonder if she had been living within a household where disputes happened often.

Shamal let out a heavy sigh and brushed a hand across his face, things in the underworld had been in turmoil for some time. It was hard to get the details, but when he'd finally received the story, he had been shocked.

His contacts had given him confidential information on the fatal assassination of one of the higher standing figures within the Vongola. The leader of Cedef along with his wife had been killed by an unknown group around a week ago. It had come as a shock at first, while he had not known Iemitsu Sawada personally; he could see how the repercussions of this unfortunate event would affect those within the Vongola. The Mafia as a whole will certainly be spending hours discussing the appearance of the unidentified variable. Many scared men were already calling for the vindice to hurry up and capture those who dared to disrupt the standings of their society. It was no wonder that they were suitably scared, It was unnerving to think that one held in confidence by the Ninth generation leader of Vongola would go down so easily. What would be affected in the future he wondered?

While he was seen as a laid back man by many, Shamal was actually a very attentive person. Being an assassin himself he needed good reflexes and quick analytical skills. He had seen the connection between the unfortunate deaths and the day he'd found Tsunami Aoizora; although, there were no other common grounds connecting the two events save the timing. There was no record of Sawada Iemitsu having a child, so it was highly likely that the timing had been a coincidence.

Shamal was known as a freelance assassin, having no roots connecting him to any families. The only reason he wasn't being hounded with requests was because of the rumors circulating around that he had the backing of the Vongola, and thus was off limits for some reason.

He mentally scoffed, just because he accepted more tasks from within the Vongola didn't mean he was planning to join them. He had made a personal vow, to not get entangled within the affairs of other famiglie anymore; it had remained that way since that unfortunate day.

He sighed again, wishing dearly for some espresso; he needed the strong, rich taste of it right now. He enjoyed the bitter drink every now and then for the times when he needed to keep a level head, unlike a certain sadistic hitman he knew. Shamal glanced up from his musings, only just remembering the reason he was waiting at the benches. He took a look at his wristwatch, surprised when it told him it had been 15 minutes since his ward had gone into the restrooms.

Worried, he walked up to one of the women exiting the building and inquired whether she had seen a young girl inside. When he received a negative answer he moved on to some other people, even going as far as to ask some of the man exiting the male restroom. No one had seen a child that fit the profile Shamal had described.

Shamal cursed himself for zoning out; he should have paid more attention to the time. He had been waiting at one of the benches directly facing the restrooms, so she should have seen him when she exited the building. He quickly came up with a small list of reasons for his ward's disappearance. The child could have been kidnapped while he was thinking about his problems. She could be still in the restroom; sometimes the eyewitness accounts weren't accurate after all. Lastly, there was the possibility that she ran away.

He had searched his familial information archives for the surname "Aoizora" when he'd received her name, only to find out no such name existed, in the lists of surnames or first names. Was the child a runaway like he'd suspected? He never did manage to get an address or any personal detail for that matter now that he thought about it from the strangely stubborn girl.

Shamal rubbed circles around his forehead, it was a habit he exhibited whenever he was more than a little stressed. He tried not to think about how late it was getting, it might as well be his fault his ward had disappeared; he did have many enemies that weren't afraid to shed away morals to get back at him.

There was one thing for sure; it was going to be a long night.

* * *

*CYHM? – Linebreak*

Tsumi was feeling mixed emotions. She was relieved to finally be free from the care of Doctor Shamal after so many attempts to escape, but at the same time she felt regret. She enjoyed the week they had together; for that short period of time she was somewhat able to overlook the fact that her world was turned upside down. Even if by some chance, she was able to stay with him awhile longer, Tsumi wanted a relationship where no lies were told, and sooner or later she would have to add more lies to what she'd already told the man. It was too dangerous to bring a mere family doctor into her world anyway. She was after all, the daughter of a man who worked for the Mafioso.

She had made her decision to take her place in the Mafia, it seemed logical for her father to be part of that world; he would have seemed out of place within the Yakuza. Tsumi doubted she could ever live the life of a normal citizen; she couldn't deny the mafia blood in her, the part of her that thirsted for action.

Tsumi was currently outside the entrance of the open garden Shamal had taken her to, it had taken five minutes to get past Shamal without him noticing, and about another 10 to jog all the way here. She had some time before the doctor thought to move his search outside the garden, so Tsumi set off walking at a steady pace away from the entrance of Hakone Botanical Gardens.

She had no destination in mind, a week ago, all her attention had been on escaping the assassins. She was fairly sure that she was safe from them for now; a week was enough time for things to calm down. Tsumi still made sure to stay as nondescript as possible, if nothing else, she knew how stubborn people could be.

Now that she thought about it, it would be smart to change her appearance although the thought made her miserable; she did not want to feel further disconnected to her parents by changing her look.

'_Everything is their fault!_' she suddenly thought resentfully. If those men hadn't hunted her parents down, none of this would have happened!

_Sooner or later, it would have happened_. Tsumi almost jumped from the sudden and unexpected input, it had been a while since her intuition last spoke up. '_Since that day a week ago..._'

The voice was right, like always; with her father being a part of the Mafia, enemies would target the people in association with him hoping to gain leverage.

Tsumi directed her thinking to a less depressing route of thought. When had she discovered the voice inside her head? It seemed as if she had her intuition since she could remember, but the voice came more recently, about a year ago. It wasn't as awkward as one would think, hearing voices within your head; it was like having a more intuitive version of her inside, except one without a sense of individuality.

Tsumi made a mental note to find out more about her intuition when she had time, as she did not think everyone on earth went around with a voice inside their head.

Thinking back to her current situation, Tsumi gave a soft sigh. She didn't know where to go, there _was_ nowhere to go. She was known as a quiet child, only showing emotions to her parents inside the comfort of their house, so that ruled out any neighbors. She never interacted with her classmates, so she didn't have any friends; she couldn't bring such fragile people into her world anyway.

Her thoughts accompanied her as Tsumi walked towards the center of the town, where she would decide her next course of action.

Tsumi was surprised when her legs had brought her to the Namimori Shrine; it had been a while since she'd last been here. A nostalgic memory came into mind; she gave a warm smile as she remembered it. It had been the day after the New Year; she had been three years old at the time…

-_Flash Back_-

Tsumi was content; her papa had come home to celebrate the New Year with them, even though it was a day late. She was irritated that he'd made her mother cry, wishing for him to be with her at the countdown. She supposed he made it up by coming home the next day baring expensive gifts for her mother and her. Tsumi had thought him silly, he never noticed how her mother hadn't so much as glanced at the gifts since his arrival; to her being with him had been enough.

They were currently visiting the shrine; she was holding hands with both of her parents. It was these times when she would wish her father would quit his job. Couldn't he see how much her mother had missed him?

They set up a large picnic blanket at a nice location and sat down, enjoying the time together. Soon they dug into the feast that Nana had created.

-End Flash Back-

Tsumi covered her mouth and let out a yawn. She guessed all the walking and thinking had made her tired.

She looked around, the grass and earth was hard from the cold nights, and she couldn't sleep on the cemented ground. Tsumi suddenly spotted a stone bench almost hidden by some smartly placed trees. She quickly walked up to it, was it possible for her to suddenly feel so tired? Slowly, Tsumi lifted herself onto the seat and brought her legs to her side. She brought her hood over her head, effectively shielding her ears from some of the cold; finally Tsumi set herself down, and using her hands as a makeshift pillow she slowly drifted off to sleep, her last thoughts being of pleasant memories.

Ten minutes passed since Tsumi fell into her slumber. She never once noticed the young boy that had been hiding behind the trunk of a large barren Sakura tree since her arrival. The young boy waited a few more minutes until he made his way towards the sleeping girl. He stood in front of her, curious about someone who would venture, during such chilly conditions to Namimori Shrine only to take a nap.

His eyes swept over the girl, determining her threat level. The Shrine would remain his territory as long as he could help it, so he had to take care of potential threats right away. He gave a huff as he labeled her a weakling in his mind.

The boy stared at the slumbering girl for a few more seconds; he then abruptly turned and walked towards the Shrine building, seemingly bored of the girl already.

A few more peaceful minutes passed.

The boy then returned, bringing a light purple blanket with him. He paused in front of the bench once again, before giving a slight glare at the girl and wrapping the blanket around her.

After a few more quiet minutes, the boy left the Shrine, disappearing from sight as a gentle mist crept over the area.

He never saw the lone tear that fell from Tsumi's eyes or the sigh that escaped the small girl as she nestled into the warmth of the blanket.

* * *

*CYHM? – Line break*

Tsumi woke up to the sound of birds chirping. She sleepily flickered open her eyes, immediately regretting it as the rays of sunshine temporarily blinded her.

'_This isn't Shamal's office_…' It took some time for her mind to go over the events of yesterday. Right, she had finally gotten away from him. Tsumi closed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened after her escape; she had become increasingly tired as evening fell. '_I eventually arrived at Namimori Shrine; I was tired so I decided to take a nap... and… I didn't wake up afterwards like I planned._' The bright morning sky was a clear reminder of just how long she had slept.

Fully awake now, she started getting anxious. '_Calm down Tsumi'_ She told herself, '_I'm not at the office, so that means he hadn't been able to find me… yet._' Although she was sure that if she stayed within the town she would be found sooner or later. That was fine with her, she had been planning to leave Namimori for a few years anyway, and she would only be weighed down by grief and regret if she stayed here. The good doctor was probably still searching for her, and there was still the matter of those men.

'_I suppose leaving Japan would be my best option._' The towns near Namimori were not safe either, and it would be a good way for her to come to her senses. She could always work for the rations and money needed to travel within the cities she stopped at; the troublesome part would be _how_ she would be able to leave Japan. It was almost impossible to travel between countries without identifications and a passport; there was also the fact that she was a child. At the least, she would be asked to contact an adult to wait for her at her destination, and that just won't do.

Tsumi suddenly paused for a moment; it was not a second later that an expression of anguish flashed through her features. Why? Why was it that she was still able to think so rationally?

Everything just seemed wrong; she didn't know how it was possible for her to think so clearly, her parents had been _killed_ a week ago. Was she really that different from everyone else, that she lacked the ability to feel the same emotions?

She still remembered the hurtful things she had been called by her classmates. She was just more quiet and attentive than others her age; it didn't give them the right to call her names. Heartless, evil witch, psycho! She could live with being called those names; the others didn't matter as long as she had the affection of those close to her. But, what did that make her, if she wasn't even able to grieve for her own parents? Was it that somewhere deep inside of her, she actually didn't care about them?

Her hands clenched, no, she knew it was not true. She had really loved her family from the deepest depths of her heart. There was no mistaking the emotions she felt for them for anything but affection.

Tsumi snapped out of her thoughts with a blink of her eyes. As her eyes took in the scenery around her she noticed a blanket lying crumbled on the ground. She picked up the purple blanket with a puzzled look. Thinking about it she didn't feel as cold as she should be, was it possible that someone had covered her with the blanket? She hugged the blanket against her body, '_it's_ _warm_…'

Memories of the times her parents had held her close flashed within her mind. At that moment, everything came crashing down. She would never see her parents again.

She was alone.

Tsumi clutched the blanket tightly to her chest as she trembled, tears making their way down her cheeks. She buried her face into the blanket as sobs shook her tiny frame. It was too much to bear.

She stayed like that for some time; the world seemed to slow down as she cried her heart out, finally allowing the emotions that had built up to release through shaking sobs. She promised as her tears slowly subsided, that this would be the last time she cried for herself.

Tsumi realized something else at that moment. The entire reason she had started working so hard was in order to gain the ability to protect. She wanted to keep the people close to her safe. Yet, she realized now that in failing to protect her cherished people, she would experience another feeling. It was not something she wanted to feel ever again, this crushing feeling in her chest. Wouldn't it be easier to close off her emotions then?

She wouldn't allow her enemies any chances to hurt her by keeping her bonds with others an arm's length away at all times.

* * *

*CYHM? – Linebreak*

"I'll be imposing on you for a while!" Tsumi bowed, trying to convey her gratefulness to her new caretakers.

"Look at us child, there is no need for you to bow!" came the irritated voice of Ichiro Goeman.

"Yes child, it should be us thanking you, it has been a long time since our inn felt so lively." Ichiro Chihiro said as she brought Tsumi back up to face them.

Tsumi felt grateful, it was December, and nearly a month since she had left Namimori; nearing the winter holidays now, it was getting harder and harder to find a place to stay without bringing forth questions on her age.

She looked them in the eyes and said with conviction "I'll be sure to earn my stay here!" She was very fortunate to find this elderly couple; they had been willing to take her in at their inn without asking too many questions.

Goeman and Chihiro widened their eyes slightly, almost doing a double take; had they imagined seeing the flickering orange flames flash across the young girl's eyes? Nevertheless, there was something about her that differentiated the child from others; it was as if there was some kind of strength hidden within her.

Being the first to recover, Goeman cleared his throat; he had never been one for sentimentality, his wife, seeing how awkward he was feeling mentioned for them to talk over dinner.

She asked their new ward to help her set the table, giving her husband some time to take everything in. Chihiro knew just how passionate he was about the traditional days where passion and commitment were in abundance; goodness knows how many times she'd listen to him ramble about the samurai code of honor. It seemed like their ward's determination had sparked something within him, life was certainly going to be much livelier around Housha Inn.

* * *

*CYHM? – Linebreak*

"Can you teach me how to play the bamboo flute, Chihiro-Obaa-san?" Tsumi asked her surrogate grandmother. She had wanted to learn how to play it ever since she'd heard Chihiro's music on night. The Chinese flute had a different range compared to the metal flute and thus really sparked her interest.

It had been about two months since she had been taken in by the Ichiros. Tsumi had grown fond of the elderly couple, they were like the grandparents she never had. She did not forget her promise to herself though, and was careful to keep a small wall between them and her heart.

She had grown used to the traditional Japanese lifestyle her guardians lived by. Although the convenience of modern styled inns had won many of their customers over, Tsumi was still able to find enough things to do to carry out her share of the work.

Chihiro stopped chopping the peppers, she turned to face the child she'd come to love as a surrogate granddaughter and raised an eyebrow. She was at a loss for words; standing in front of her was a possible student she would be able pass on her passion to. These days, barely any younglings bother to learn how to play instruments with how a lot of time was required to be taught the skills.

She wanted to stop what she was doing and just hug the girl to death; Chihiro reminded herself to be patient, she had paying guests to take care of after all.

She made do with giving the child a peck on the forehead, replying to her question with a pleased smile. "Of course, how about we set the lessons for every weekend afternoon starting tomorrow?"

She was rewarded with a tight hug. Chihiro smiled, the young child was like a gift from the gods, her life turned that much brighter now that she had someone to teach and care for. She watched the girl's retreating form as she reminisced of the days before the disaster; it had been more than three decades now, since that fatal accident. Chihiro brushed a stray tear from her eyes, this was their second chance. Even though her husband often scowled, she knew he was just as grateful as her for finding the child.

* * *

*CYHM? – Linebreak*

"Play that verse again, and this time linger on this key a little longer," Goeman appraised his charge. It was the last week of February, and the aged inn owner was currently instructing his ward on how to play a particularly difficult piece on the piano. Goeman had to admit he was impressed -although he would sooner injure himself than admit it-, it had only been a month since he'd started his weekly Piano lessons with the girl, and she was already on her way to playing intermediate level songs.

As his surrogate grandchild started on the verse once again, Goeman thought back to how he and his wife had met the young child.

-_Flash Back_-

Goeman was waiting outside the doors of a small floral shop, his wife finding it fit to drag him outside for some fresh air. He thought their inn housed enough plants, but apparently they were still missing some diversity.

He dug his hands into his jacket pockets, keeping them shielded from the chill of the November wind. It seemed like they would soon need to get the inn cleaned up and ready for the holidays. Speaking of the holidays, there were barely any people outside on the streets anymore.

Goeman didn't really mind the quiet, although he had to admit the absence of the wondering masses made Hyoshimiru town seem empty. It wasn't as if the town rarely received visitors though, in fact the reason there were so many inns and hotels within the town was in order to accommodate the tourists that often came. Hyoshimiru, a small town as it was, was home to some of the most mesmerizing scenery within Japan. Rumors often went around detailing the town as one blessed by the gods. It seemed the recent news of an escaped serial killer near the area was making tourists think second thoughts.

Goeman closed his eyes and took in a few whiffs of the cool evening air; being in such a peaceful area did wonders for the soul. He idly wondered how much longer his wife would be taking; he personally couldn't remember any places within the inn that looked too spacious.

He suddenly heard a small cough in the distance, making him search out the source of the noise. Goeman blinked his eyes thrice, and then squinted just to make sure he wasn't seeing images. _'Why is a child wondering around alone at night?'_ Goeman couldn't put a name to the child's face either; he knew all of the children within Hyoshimiru, seeing as there were only seven children under the age of 15. '_Is he from a family of visiting tourists_?' If that was so, he would have to bring the child back to his family; even though there had been no reports of the escaped convict, it was still dangerous for such a young child to be out wondering alone.

He walked towards the young boy, speeding up as he saw the child collapse. He crouched down and brought the child to his knees. He could hear labored gasps coming from the boy; his suspicions were confirmed when he felt the child's forehead, he was coming down with a mild fever.

Despite his age, Goeman was quite strong; he never believed one would automatically become weak as they age. He managed to position the unconscious child around his arms so that he was carrying him bridle style. Slowly he walked with the child towards his wife, who had just exited the shop with her purchases.

-_Flash Back End_-

It had taken them a few days to nurse the child back to full health. Goeman had been surprised at first when they found out the gender of the child, they had automatically assumed she had been a boy with the clothing she wore; it seemed as if the young girl had wanted to hide it for some reason she didn't quite disclose.

When the child had first woken up, she'd closed herself from them; it made Goeman think about what the young girl must have gone through to show such distrust in adults.

He remembered the young child approaching them one day, asking if they would allow her to spend the winter in their inn in exchange for work. They had been amazed by how serious she was; it was certainly not something they would expect a six year old child to negotiate about.

They of course had agreed to give her boarding; he and his wife had some suspicions that the child's family was having some problems. They didn't ask too many questions, figuring the young girl would confide in them when she was ready. Goeman didn't look too much into the familial background of his ward, he wasn't able to find anything anyway; he figured that there would be missing child reports if someone was looking for the young girl.

His thoughts turned back towards the present as the last verse of the song was played. Goeman allowed himself a small smile; people wouldn't guess with his stern demeanour that he was a pianist. It was nice to be able to past down his skills to the younger generation.

He gave the girl a nod in reply to her expectant expression. He wouldn't go soft on her though, who knew how much further she could go without setting any limits.

"Listen carefully; I'm going to show you how to play the next song."

* * *

OMAKE: **Shamal's loss**

It was the fourth day since Tsumi had been found by Doctor Shamal. She was feeling bored, the doctor had gone out for a date with his girlfriend. Being curious, Tsumi ransacked one of the doctor's desk drawers. She was awarded with a black phonebook. To her horror as she flipped through the pages, she found out the phone numbers of numerous girls Shamal had been seeing.

Hanabi-chan, Hanako-chan, Eloise-sama!?

'_That… perverted playboy_!' She needed to bring justice upon him. Tsumi smirked as a plan started forming in her mind. Humming, she brought the phone towards her bed and cheerfully started dialing the first entry.

Later into the evening, as Shamal arrived home, he would find himself ambushed by a mob of angry, revenge seeking and soon-to-be-ex girlfriends.

OMAKE End.

* * *

**Tsunami Aoizora**: Fake name Tsumi poses under in her time with Shamal

**A/N:** Here's the revised version of chapter 3 ^^ I think I added about 1000 words in content. I'm still kind of shocked over how ... blunt and unnecessary the descriptions in some parts of my chapters are. Well, I'm currently fixing them so hopefully the revised chapters are easier to read!

_Thanks to the guest who gave my re-uploaded story the first review :) _

_Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please leave some feedback if you have time! Maybe tell me something I'm doings that is driving you crazy? :D_

_Until next time, may your favourite stories be updated!_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Please refer to the first chapter.

* * *

Last Chapter:

_He gave the girl a nod in reply to her expectant expression. He wouldn't go soft on her though, who knew how much further she could go without setting any limits._

_"Listen carefully; I'm going to show you how to play the next song."_

* * *

Chapter 4:** Discoveries**

Tsumi carefully got off the rear of the latest cargo truck she had stowed away in. It was the third one she'd gotten on so far that day, she felt very lucky to have not been noticed by the drivers. Digging into her pant pocket, Tsumi brought out the hastily drawn map she'd made as she left Namimori; having created it by piecing together the information she'd gotten from asking around. She was about seven towns from Namimori, a fair distance away. Still, her ultimate goal would be to leave Japan; she would not have the leisure of training in Japan, where she would be under the constant threat of being assassinated.

It was around noon, Tsumi could feel the bright rays of sunlight shining upon her even as she shivered from the wind chill. She was far away from her hometown that she was able to relax a little, with the distance she'd travelled in the past few days, it would be wise to take a small break before exhaustion took over her. She looked over her map once again. It seemed she was about a 20 miles walk from the next village, a small place called Hyoshimiru.

She could hear slight rumbling sounds coming from her stomach; she needed to find something to eat soon too, going a full day without food was energy draining for person, let alone a growing child. With a sigh, Tsumi set off in what would be a long trek to Hyoshimiru.

xXXx

From what she could see of the sun's position, it was around five O'clock in the evening. Tsumi was currently in front of a signpost that told her she was just two miles to Hyoshimiru. She was almost there, only about another hour's walk until she reached the village. Tsumi didn't mind having to walk the long distance too much, the scenery was enjoyable; lush green trees surrounded the road she was hiking on seemingly not affected by the changing seasons.

Her stomach gave out another rumble; it was even beginning to hurt a tiny bit. It seemed like the small biscuits she'd eaten this morning didn't do much for a meal.

It might also be because she hadn't had any water for more than five hours, but she was starting to feel a little disorientated and nauseous. She could only take small comfort in the fact that the overwhelming brightness of the day had melted away with the sunset.

Tsumi kept herself motivated by thinking about the hot showers and food she could get when she arrived at the village. '_I will be there before I know it_," and so, she continued walking along the weather beaten path towards Hyoshimiru.

xXXx

'_I finally arrived!_' Tsumi looked upon the setting before her with interest. It seemed unusual to her, that the entrance to a village would be a set of descending stairs. Beside her was a signpost, welcoming her to Hyoshimiru, the village of rhythm. She took a moment to take a quick look at the large oriental gateway in front of her, it gave off the feeling of strength; it was like an entrance to another world.

'_I think I might like this place,' _Tsumi thought as she took her first step down towards village.

xXXx

'_It's weird, with so many inns and hotels around here; you would think there would be more people._' She was currently wondering around the streets of Hyoshimiru, having no real destination in mind. Tsumi had regained some of her energy after she drank some water she had bought from a convenience store, but she needed to eat something with more substance. The problem was that she didn't have any more money to buy food.

She knew it to be around seven O'clock from the miniature clock in the convenience store. This brought her thinking about what she would do for the night, she'd spent pretty much all of her change; she hadn't brought enough money to rent a hotel room anyway. Tsumi sat down on one of the benches in the park she had wondered to. While passing through the last few cities and towns, she had managed to survive the nights by sleeping in the 24 hour gaming cafes. Now, Tsumi didn't quite know what to do. She supposed she could try to sleep in the open once again, although there would be the increased chance of authorities finding her, it was also a good couple of degrees lower than a few days ago.

'_Nothing gets done by complaining.' _Tsumi raised her head to look at the sky, '_I guess I can try asking around at the inns, to see if they would give me free lodging in return for work._' She just hoped that they wouldn't ask her questions, or worse, call the authorities on her.

She stood up; only to stumble back down as a wave of nausea suddenly hit her. '_Either I'm dizzy from the lack of food, or I'm coming down with something_." Tsumi really hoped it wasn't the latter one, being sick meant feeling too weak to move, it also meant needing someone to take care of you.

She decided to take a short rest; the dizziness was probably just from the lack of nutrition, nothing to worry about. She closed her eyes, allowing the whispers of the nighttime breeze to croon her to sleep.

xXXx

Tsumi stretched out her hands, it was the end of her break period, and she had spent it daydreaming instead of her usual studying. It seemed her mind had decided to wonder towards the events that had happened in the last couple of months.

After she'd woken up in the park about an hour had passed, and her dizziness had not gone away; it had grown to be a massive headache. After that, instead of seeking help, she had continued wondering around the village. It had been stupid of her -now that she thought back to it- to not seek help, she could have died from something that could have been taken care of by an adult. Her memories became a little hazy after that, she could only faintly remember seeing someone –who she now knew as Goemon- before she passed out.

She reluctantly got off her bed (there should be a rule against beds being too comfy), checked her schedule to see if there was anything she'd missed (March 12, nothing planned), and left her room making her way to the kitchen. Chihiro was making Tiramisu today, one of her favorite desserts.

xXXx

"Darling, how have your lessons been coming along?" Chihiro's tone held a hint of curiosity.

Tsumi raised an eyebrow at the out of the blue question, but answered honestly as she continued to dry the freshly cleaned plates lying in front of her. "Well, as you know I've put my Flute learning aside for the moment; I'll come back to it as soon as I get the basics down in my Bamboo flute lessons. As for the piano, I think I'm improving at a decent pace. At least I'm not hesitating to drag the notes out anymore … Why do you ask?"

Her surrogate grandmother laughed, told her it was just a random question, and asked if she would like to learn how to play the violin. This caused her to jump up and down, she loved learning new things.

Her ward's reaction brought a smile to her face. Chihiro had the feeling, ever since she'd seen the determination in the child's eyes that she would be different. It seemed like Tsukiwas a musical prodigy, the child seemed to breathe in her lessons like she would air.

There was another piece of news she thought might interest her ward. "Say, I just got a call from one of my friends, he is out on an important business meeting tonight and needs us to babysit his son." Chihiro knew how her surrogate grandchild would react before she even finished her sentence.

Tsumi was ecstatic; she loved kids (as long as they weren't too crazy around her.) She gave Chihiro a hug and excused herself to her bedroom; new violin lessons and an evening playing with a child? '_This warrants a nice long session of bed jumping._'

xXXx

The child was absolutely adorable. That had been Tsumi's first impression of him when he was brought into the inn. A cute tousled mop of brown framing his face, and those wide eyes that were always taking in the world around him, how could she dislike the little guy?

Now, she wasn't so sure; the boy seemed to hate her. He would gurgle happily when held by anyone else but her. When she tried to so much as touch him, his lips would tremble and he would start crying.

'_Is my face scaring him or something?_' Tsumi was currently murdering her vegetables, venting off her frustration by stabbing at them repeatedly. '_I mean, all I ever did was smile whenever I'm around him._'

She heard Chihiro call her over from her bedroom, '_probably to help the baby sleep.'_ She didn't get why Chihiro kept on trying to have her interact with the boy. It was obvious that he wasn't going to warm up to her any time soon.

Tsumi took one more look at her plate, and with a sigh, pushed it away from her. She then made her way Chihiro and Goeman's bedroom, preparing herself for the inevitable tears.

She entered the room to the sight of a sniffling baby, '_weird, Taka is usually quite calm; I wonder what got him so riled up._'

When Chihiro spotted her, she look relieved. For some reason a shiver crawled up her spine, and Tsumi suddenly had the feeling that she was up to something. "Tsuki dear, come over here please." There was an odd glint in her eyes.

She walked over to the elder woman warily, not sure what kind of plan she was hatching.

"Would you mind singing a lullaby to Taka?" Chihiro asked while rocking him in her arms.

Tsumi was a little puzzled by the strange request, and expressed her doubts to Chihiro. The kindly woman answered with a chuckle. "I was hoping that you would be able to sing him to sleep. My elderly voice doesn't seem to work."

"Sing? Me?" Tsumi blurted out without thinking. She never really tried singing before.

Chihiro merely smiled, "yes dear, I think you have a lovely voice."

She blushed, having not been complimented on her voice before. Tsumi looked shyly towards the baby and asked, "What song do you think I should sing?"

Not hearing a response, she looked back up to Chihiro, who seemed to be thinking. Finally, her surrogate grandmother smiled her I-have-an-idea smile and said. "How about _Natsuhiboshi_, it's a nice short and slow song."

Tsumi nodded, and took a calming breath. She still had doubts on her ability to sing, but as she looked upon the baby, she managed to gain some courage. She began to sing, all the while remembering the times her mother had sang the lullaby to her.

_Natsuhiboshi, naze akai?_

_yuube kanashii yume wo mita._

_naite hanashita._

_akai me yo_

_natsuhiboshi, naze mayou?_

_kieta warashi wo sagashiteru_

_dakara kanashii yume wo miru_

Tsumi opened her eyes, only just realizing that she had them closed the entire time. She quickly looked at Chihiro for some feedback. She couldn't tell from the older women's smile. Was it a grimace because she was actually tone deaf, or was it just a smile meaning she sang well? The only answer she got from Chihiro was signal for her to look at the baby.

Tsumi turned her gaze towards the boy, and was rewarded with angelic face of him sleeping. She smiled, happy that she had managed to sing him to sleep.

"Tsuki dear," her attention went back to Chihiro, "How would you like to add vocal to your list of lessons?"

Tsumi almost teared up in joy, she was grateful for meeting the Ichiros. She smiled shakily through her slightly misty eyes and said, "I will give my absolute focus to the lessons!"

Chihiro just smiled and hugged her ward.

xXXx

Another two months or so past, and Tsumi was once again starting to doubt her choice of staying at Housha Inn. She reassured herself by reasoning that being seven or so towns away from Namimori made her quite safe. She had a good half a year or so until they would even think to search in such a small town. There was also the issue of repaying the Ichiros back for their hospitality.

Tsumi glanced at her calendar before getting up and preparing for the day. June 5th, there were no guests currently staying at the inn, and no reservations either, so they had planned a small trip today, to the outer edges of Hyoshimiru.

Carefully selecting her outfit, she headed towards the dining hall, following the appetizing smells drifting from the room. She remembered Goeman saying that his wife was making a French breakfast today. Tsumi was still sulking over how Chihiro would not allow her to help her make breakfast, telling her that children needed their sleep and whatnot.

After entering the hall and greeting her surrogate grandparents, Tsumi brought up the topic of the planned destination for the trip. They had kept it a secret from her, wanting to give her a surprise. After some more chatter, they merrily dug into their breakfast.

xXXx

Words failed to describe how utterly beautiful the scenery she was currently experiencing was. She had thought that they would visit the Hyouka Waterfalls, as that was one of the most famous attractions in the village. Her guardians, seeing her mesmerized look smiled. They had brought her to one of the lesser known areas, only a handful of people knew how to get here.

It was worth it, travelling through dense shrubbery and walking around numerous trees to get here. To think, after crouching and making their way through the tunnel of weeds, they would come upon such a peaceful clearing.

There seemed to be flowers of all shades here, none of them ruining the balance even with so many colors of the visible spectrum being represented; every one of them look like they belonged. There was also a nice small stream nearby, littered with stones and pebbles of all sizes. The trees surrounding the clearing did not overshadow any of the plants as they usually do. The gradient cerulean sky and the soothing cotton-like clouds; everything seemed to fall in place, in harmony.

"It's... magnificent," she finally managed to breathe out. She felt like home here.

Goeman and Chihiro looked at each other and grinned; Chihiro smiled and said, "We knew you would like it."

Tsumi just smiled and lay down on her back to observe the clouds. She felt so at peace in this clearing. The three stayed that way for some time, simply enjoying the scenery and peacefulness of their surroundings.

xXXx

They suddenly heard the cry of a bird, snapping them from their silence induced trances. Goeman chose the moment to speak, "I really hate to put an end to this trip, but we need to return to the inn soon." Seeing the disappointment in Tsumi's eyes, he quickly added, "We'll make sure to come here again as soon as possible."

Tsumi showed her appreciation with a wide smile, "thanks so much for bringing me here today."

Her surrogate grandparents just smiled (or in Goeman's case, scowled.) The three got up, dusting themselves off. After a couple of stretches, they were ready to return home. However as they made their way across the clearing to the tunnel of weeds, Tsumi suddenly heard a unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

Time seemed to slow down as she pivoted around to find the gun that had fired the shot. Flocks of birds flew in all directions, frightened by the sudden sound. She could hear screaming, a loud high pitched cry of terror. Tsumi wanted the sound to stop; it was a moment later when she realized she had been the one screaming all along.

She had good reason to, as she saw in front of her eyes Goeman being assaulted with holes, round red holes. His face was one of shock. Half a dozen more gunshots found their way to a new target; the upper body of Chihiro. Two to the brain, three to the lungs, and one to the heart; she was dead before she hit the ground. This all happened in the span of five seconds. She continued screaming. There was something red on her hands. Blood, it was their blood. Her breakfast threatened to come out.

She looked up, and saw a familiar face. It was the face that had been on the front covers of the newspapers for the last couple of weeks. They had come across the path of Mitsushi Ayuke, the fugitive serial killer.

A bullet whizzed past her cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake. It was like the events of that night all over again. She heard laughter, from the serial killer or from her, she couldn't tell; she had already snapped.

It had been over in less than 10 seconds.

Near the end of June, local authorities would come upon the burnt and decomposing body of Mitsushi Ayuke. Residents of Hyoshimiru when asked all claimed of not knowing that the serial killer had been hiding within the village. Many villagers had merely called the authorities to report the rotten odors they had smelled when visiting the forest area.

Detectives investigating the story were completely baffled by the case. There had been no reports of any smoke wafting from the forest at the time of death; there was also not so much as a blade of grass beside the body that had been burnt. Authorities had come to the conclusion that the fugitive had been murdered by acquaintances with grudges against him.

The case had been featured on many news channels for days on end; the death of the man who had killed over 31 people had been news to the people of Japan. Officers at the scene had uncovered the bodies of two elders, identified as Goeman and Chihiro Ichiro, owners of Housha Inn; according to grieving villagers they had been missing since the beginning of the month. They had found them buried six feet underground, a makeshift grave. The case had been filed under the unsolved deaths file, the police having no more leads to act on. The existence of Tsuki Minami had been mysteriously wiped from the memories of villagers overnight.

* * *

xXXx

-July 7th-

It was raining, but she didn't mind; her heart felt heavy as she stood in front of the tombstone. The Ichiros had been buried together, just like they had asked for in their will.

Tsumi couldn't help but feel as if she had been responsible for their deaths. Even though the circumstances were beyond her control; maybe if they hadn't taken her in, they wouldn't have visited the clearing. It was starting to feel as if everyone she got involved with ended up dead.

Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the raindrops; it was as if the sky itself was mourning with her.

Tsumi didn't bother wiping her tears, knowing it would be a while before she calmed down. She bent down, and reached out to touch the tombstone with her right hand; gently tracing the names of her late guardians. Silent sobs wracked her body, causing her to shake with grief; it had all happened so suddenly. Not just the death of the Ichiros, but also the murder of her parents. Her vision blurred as her eyes filled up with tears once more.

Really, hadn't she promised herself to stay strong, to not cry out in weakness?

It had been about one month since the day Goeman and Chihiro had died. Tsumi had come back to honor their graves, and to say goodbye. She had decided to leave Japan as soon as possible. It had been a mistake in the first place, to stay within its borders, no matter how much she'd treasured the last few months spent with the late Ichiros.

Her resolved had strengthened even more, she needed to gain more experience, so she would be able to react next time, instead of being taken by surprise.

"I will make you proud; Grandma, Grandpa." She spoke the words out loud, feeling it right to express her intentions to their grave. With that said, she sat down on the ground; she then closed her eyes and allowed a faint smile to grace her face, it almost felt as if her grandparents were standing beside her.

* * *

xXXx

An idiot, she was an idiot.

'_Just how did I manage to get myself into this situation again?_' Tsumi questioned herself for the fourth time since she'd put her plan into action. At first, the idea had seemed ingenious to her, the successful execution of it would allow her to leave Japan without a passport or pay a single yen after all. That had been some time ago.

The first time she questioned her nifty plan was when she'd allowed herself to be lured in by the promise of candy from a shady man, knowing he was in fact an illegal slave transporter (having been following him for a few days.) He looked menacing, being of a gruff build, but he obviously lacked some in the intelligence department.; had he really thought people who were easily frightened such as children would be tricked into following him?

The man really had offered her sweets; drugged sweets. Her Intuition told her they were merely something along the line of muscle relaxants and sleep inducing drugs, nothing too severe for a child's delicate system if taken for one time only.

Tsumi had made a show of unwrapping several of the bonbons under the watchful eye of the stranger. Further proof of his lacking aptitude was shown when he chose to leave the room shortly after that, not bothering to check if the drugs had correctly gotten their way into her system. Waiting a few minutes after he left, Tsumi had hid the pieces of candies behind some boxes in a shadowed corner of the room. She then allowed herself to relax, utilizing all the meditational techniques that she knew.

A few minutes later, the man came back; he then picked up her relaxed body and flung her over his shoulder (almost making her cry out.) She kept a dazed and tired look on her features, playing her role of a drugged child. He then brought her to a room, where she would question her plan for the second time.

She soon found out that he'd brought her to his leader; a lean, quiet looking man. She had been surprised that such a fragile looking guy would be the man in charge; nevertheless, she knew to be on her guard around that man, receiving a dangerous vibe coming from him.

She remembered the brief conversion between the leader and her captor. They were mainly just discussing information on when they would take off, and where to meet up when arriving at Matera.

She had tensed a little at that piece of information. She'd never heard of the place before; what if they brought her to some slave camp where she would have a hard time trying to escape from? Her idea had stemmed from the belief that once transported, she would be able to escape captivity somehow. That had been the second time she wished she hadn't carried out the plan.

Around the end of the conversation, Tsumi recalled feeling the cold, rigid fingers of the leader caressing her chin. It had felt absolutely disgusting; even now she could feel goose bumps forming underneath her skin just by thinking about his touch.

The man had then bid goodbye to the leader and brought her to another room, where she suddenly felt him placing her within the confines of a crate. It was then that she realized they were planning to illegally ship her as cargo. She had cursed herself for thinking up her plan for the third time then. She wasn't claustrophobic, but she did like her space.

She remembered being surrounded by darkness; the man had placed a lid over the box. At first she had tried to lift the cover, but it had seemingly by locked shut. This had brought on a wave of nausea and panic for her; she hated feeling confined. She had then fallen into a daze waiting for something to happen, finding it unproductive to be wasting her energy pushing the lid.

She couldn't tell how much time had passed in her semi-conscious daze, but she'd been brought back to reality by a loud voice and a sudden onslaught of light. She remembered a rough arm pulling her out of the box and settling her back on the hard cement floor. The man from earlier had came back, he muttered something about washrooms and departures. Tsumi had just gone with it, realizing she probably wouldn't have a chance to refresh herself while trapped in the crate.

After coming back from the dingy restroom (Tsumi shuddered at the memory of it) the man led her back to her temporary prison.

She remembered playing around with the man, not wanting to get back into the cramped crate just yet. She would never forget his priceless reaction when she'd donned the "Clueless child" demeanor.

She had put on the innocent wide eyes puppy look, and told him she wanted to go back home. The guy looked like a deer caught in car lights; he had then started sweating and sputtering out sweet words, trying to coax her into staying for a while longer. She had merely smiled and replied with an "okay" to his exaggerated response, all the while laughing inwardly.

Soon she had found herself back inside the darkness of the wooden crate (she'd then just realized there were miniature air holes), this time accompanied by a small sack. It seemed the man had finally realized that she needed food to survive; there had been an assortment of dried food inside the bag. Nothing containing liquid; it seemed like she would be stuck within the crate for some time.

Tsumi had then made herself as comfortable as she could, stretching as much as the limited space within the box would allow her and started preparing herself for the long trip.

xXXx

That was where Tsumi found herself hours later, still stuck in the same old wooden crate. She had tried to conserve her measly rations, but it seemed like it wasn't going to work; she was down to her last three pieces of dried pineapple and a dried mango slice. She really hoped they were close to the end of their journey. It had been disconcerting at first, to feel the box she was in being picked up and moved.

She knew she was on some kind of plane, but not their final destination. She felt very uncomfortable inside the crate; sure they had the common sense to make it just large enough for a child to fit in, but she had fallen asleep on both of her heels, feeling the consequences when she'd woken up.

Tsumi managed to not scream out in frustration by telling herself to bare it for just a while longer. Her intuition told her that they would be arriving soon. '_We better be,_' she thought to herself, she needed to use the restroom.

They did arrive at their destination not long after, half an hour later in fact, although to Tsumi it had felt like days. The first thought that crossed her mind upon touchdown, was to find out where the heck they had shipped her to, where this Matera place was situated in reference to the global map. A few minutes passed before she heard the sounds of the lock over her crate being released. She looked up as the lid of the crate was lifted, to be greeted by the sight of an unfamiliar man.

Tsumi blinked her eyes a few times, allowing them to adjust to the new sights; her gaze continued to linger on the man.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, neither making an attempt to break the silence. Another minute passed before Tsumi decided to end their little staring contest. She placed a cute smile on her face and asked the man where the restroom was.

It seemed the guy wasn't one who liked to talk as he just nodded and offered his right hand. Tsumi continued smiling as she reached out to grab the man's hand and allowed him to pull her up. He then to her surprise gently lifted her out of the crate.

She was now finally out of her cramped prison, but it seemed the stranger wasn't about to do anything else. She looked at him again, not really surprised when her eyes met his. They stared at each other once more. Tsumi really had no idea what she was doing, the way the man stared at her made her feel a little self conscious, but she couldn't help but look back at him.

She jumped a bit when the stranger suddenly extended his hand to her for the second time. She warily placed her small child-like hand onto his, and was surprised when it resulted in a small upwards twitch of his lips.

Tsumi suddenly felt her heart tighten as she realized how familiar this situation was to the times her father would hold her hand. She immediately bit her lower lip and lowered her head, not wanting to allow the man see the wetness in her eyes. She used her other hand to quickly wipe the tears away, she had after all resolved to not cry again.

A small gasp escaped her as she felt her head being lifted up by firm adult fingers, not being able to look away because of the fingers still holding up her chin, Tsumi reluctantly met the eyes of the stranger. Expecting to see a cold, hard disgusted gaze, she was surprised when she saw compassion and understanding within the depths of warm, hazel eyes; not knowing how to react, she allowed herself to be led outside the large cargo plane; her mind still thinking about the sheer amount of emotions she'd seen within the stranger's eyes.

She only snapped out of her thoughts when a warm gust of summer air met her as she took her first step outside the plane.

"So this is Matera," she murmured as she took in the sights around her. The scenery was different from what she'd gotten used to in Japan that was for sure.

It almost felt as if she had suddenly traveled back in time, Matera looked like a modern version of the medieval times. There was an entire town seemingly curved out of earth, as well as large hills that surrounded the township; it was certainly a very atmospheric place, made even more so by the setting sun. If she wasn't currently in such a weird situation, Tsumi wouldn't have minded taking in the scenery for a few moments longer.

She had been so caught up by her musings that she pretty much forgotten the existence of the man standing behind her. That was why when she felt a hand tap her left shoulder; Tsumi had jumped for the second time that day. She cursed herself for always getting lost within her own world, and turned her attention back to the stranger. Her assessment of him contrasted what she'd expected an illegal smuggler would be, for what else would he be to meet her as soon as the plane touched ground? He didn't exactly look wealthy, and he hadn't rushed her to do anything.

The stranger nodded his head, and pointed towards a cave in the distance. Tsumi, finally realizing he wanted her to follow him also nodded to show she understood him. They set off walking in the direction of the cave, hand in hand.

She didn't know why she was obediently following the stranger, there seemed to be something deeper about him that told her he wouldn't harm her. She peered into the cave they had arrived at, seeing nothing but darkness awaiting them. She looked uneasily back at the stranger, not sure if she wanted to venture into the cave; seeing a nod of confirmation, she sighed and prepare herself. Finding comfort in the warmth of the man's hand, she held it as they slowly advanced into the eerie cave.

xXXx

Tsumi was instantly on her guard, standing in front of her was the gruff man from before. She didn't know why, but it seemed the smugglers had set up a small makeshift office within the cave. It was a little hard to see, with a dim flickering light bulb being the only source of light.

She backed up so that she was slightly behind the stranger. She wasn't exactly sure why she didn't categorize the strange man with the kindness lurking behind his eyes, with the other slave dealers, but she needed to focus on the situation at hand right now.

"Well, it seems like your newest purchase is already quite taken with you," The curt man spoke, sounding please with himself.

Tsumi froze, she had already been sold? This had not been a part of her plans, she had planned to somehow get away after arriving at whatever location the dealers had smuggled her into.

She started backing away from both of the men, wanting to put as much distance between them as she could before they reacted; regretting her decision to follow such a hastily thought out plan for the last time that day. She found that she couldn't move any further as her right arm was being held by that of the man who had betrayed her. She fought against his grip, but found her struggle futile as his hold remained firm.

"Oh? Did you not tell him you were his new owner," sniggered the shifty dealer, he laughed, "he's quite the feisty one isn't he?

Tsumi shot him a glare, putting forward as much hatred as she could. This made the smuggler react, as he narrowed his eyes and made his way towards her.

He snarled to her face, "don't you dare look at me like that, you filthy little brat!" He then made to slap her but was stopped by the hand of his client. He may have been large and courageous enough to lord over children, but his client pretty much towered over him, so he immediately retreated.

"Yes, yes, let's get on with to business shall we?" He scurried back to his desk and pulled out a piece of paper. He then took out a pen from his pants pocket and extended it to the stranger. Tsumi could feel his grip leave her hand as he walked towards the desk.

She didn't understand why she wasn't taking advantage of the opportunity to escape, but she stayed; staring at her new owner as he filled out the form.

"Congratulations, Toruchiwa-san, you are now in custody of that young boy." The dealer grinned and extended his hand out for the man to shake. She continued staring as the stranger turned his back on the handshake and walked towards her.

Tsumi didn't protest as the man took her hand and led her back out of the cave; all she could think about was that she was now his slave.

xXXx

She refused to look at him. She felt betrayed, by what she wasn't sure, but she had trusted him, if only a little. Her intuition was sending her signals to hear the man out, but it wasn't so easy. She was now legally his slave, at least, that was what it seemed like from the paper. Her intuition was also telling her she'd gotten that part wrong too; '_Stupid voice in my head_.'

She heard knocking on the door for the twelfth time that day. That man had been trying to get her to respond ever since she'd locked herself into the room he gave her. It had been about an hour since they arrived at what was apparently his house; after she'd gone to the restroom, she'd immediately locked herself in the room he brought her to; since than he had been knocking at the door every ten minutes or so.

Tsumi sighed as she came to her decision. She made her way to the door and unlocked it with an audible click. She slowly swung the door open, averting her eyes as she saw that the stranger had been standing in front of the door, '_probably for the entire hour,_' she realized.

She gestured him into the room and went to sit on the four poster bed. She didn't know why, but she wasn't able to meet his eyes, so she looked at his shoes as he made his way to sit beside her.

There was a moment of awkward silence after the man sat down. Tsumi suddenly realized that she'd never heard him speak before, and decided a question was a good conversation starter as any.

"Toruchiwa-san, why won't you talk?" she asked, finally gathering the nerve to look the man in the eyes. She suddenly felt guilty as the man pointed to his throat and shook his head.

"I'm sorry!" she immediately apologized, "I didn't know you couldn't talk." Why was she even feeling apologetic? He'd just purchased her as a personal slave, yet she still added an honorific to his name and even apologized!

Tsumi watched as he merely smiled and nodded, forgiving her for her question. Another moment of silence ensued. She thought hard, trying to think of something to say, she finally decided to question him on something that had been bothering her.

"Can I ask you a question?" receiving a nod of affirmation, she continued,

"Why did you buy me?" Seeing his questioning look, Tsumi expanded, "I'm sorry, I just can't imagine someone like you purchasing slaves." She thought back to the warmth she'd seen in his eyes at this.

When she saw him stand up and leave the room, she closed her eyes in frustration, mentally berating herself for asking an insensitive question.

She was surprised upon seeing him enter the room again, bringing with him some pieces of paper and a pencil. She realized he had left the room to find an easier method of communicating.

She got off the bed and headed to the round coffee table stationed in the middle of the room.

Upon sitting down, she saw the man sliding the piece of paper towards her. She took a look at the words written on the paper and looked back at him in shock.

He had written: **私はもうすぐ死ぬつもりだ**

_I am going to die soon_.

xXXx

She had thought he would give her an excuse such as having been blackmailed; Tsumi had certainly never expected for him to state his looming death.

"What do you mean, Toruchiwa-san?" She asked; as morbid as the sudden news may be, she didn't see how it would relate to him purchasing illegally sold children. She waited patiently, as the man wrote out his response. She eagerly read his answer as he finally passed the paper to her.

_: Allow me to start from the beginning, my name is Toruchiwa Takeda_, _and I had been recently diagnosed with Throat cancer._

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she read his answer, with the current technology and medical advances many early stages of cancer such as Throat cancer could be treated, she quickly voiced her concerns to the older male.

"Aren't beginning stages of throat cancer supposed to be easy to treat? The tumor shouldn't be hard to remove right now; it shouldn't have impaired your vocal cords." She allowed him to take the sheet back, studying him as he started writing out his reply.

Although the man did not flaunt his status by dressing in expensive fabrics, it was impossible to brush him off as a regular person. He just seemed to emit this oppressing aura that showed his confidence and charisma. His features would be what people considered the ideal face, with two alluring eyes and defined cheekbones; he looked rather aristocratic even in his worn down clothes.

Tsumi came back to reality just as Toruchiwa slid the sheet back to her. She became more and more shocked as she took in all the new information.

_: No, my condition had already progressed to the final stages when I've finally gotten my diagnoses. While even now there may be the possibility of receiving a surgery and surviving, I seem to have contracted other conditions of cancer throughout my body. You're right, if I had received the correct information on my condition, I could have easily gotten it treated, and all this could have been prevented._

_: I have a confession to make, I work in a dangerous field, where friends would clap your back in praise one second, and stab you mercilessly in the next. I cannot reveal any more to you as I already have, for you are too young to understand._

_: To sum my long story up, I had been betrayed by the one doctor I had trusted. The entire time, he had been sending me tempered diagnoses reports. I had been a fool to blindly trust him, but he had been my friend, and at the time, the person I had trusted the most._

_: I do not blame him, he had been faced with a life or death choice between his family and me, and I would have done the same._

_: In this world, I have kept too many secrets. My loved ones have all passed away, I had no one left. I am grateful for my friend's betrayal, in how it had given me one last objective before my time has come._

_: I am wealthy, and most of the money was not earned through noble means. I had never used more than the minimum I needed to survive, so I've saved a small fortune._

_: I've caused people grief and sadness through my work; I am not an innocent man. I had hoped to rectify some of my wrongs, by doing this one thing._

_: I am hoping in doing something right, by using my fortune to save kids from a life of darkness. Do not worry the documents signed was merely precautions; the dealers just wanted to be sure I would not give them away should the authorities catch me. I have no legal ownership over you. That is a piece of information slaves are never told, to ensure they wouldn't try anything. I buy the children, and then pay for their tickets back to their families; so do not worry, you will be back to Japan soon._

_: I am sorry, child, for I know I am telling you too much. Forgive this dying man his wish of wanting to confide in someone._

It took her a few minutes to sort through all the new pieces of information she'd just gotten. She was almost certain that the man sitting across her was from the mafia. His silent demeanor and calculative eyes only further proved her assumptions.

She did not hate him for the things he'd done; she would have been a hypocrite if she did, as she was probably going to be doing the same things if she wanted to join the ranks of the underworld. His answer gave her more insight into what she was about to get into. Betrayals, blackmailing, and assassinations would surround her as she took her first step into the underworld. Her life was going to get much more complicated in the near future.

She felt it nice to know there were people in the world that cared about the children, and it was nice of him to be doing what could to help the few children he purchased, often a person's childhood would determine their outlook on the world.

The man's response had stirred much more new questions then resolved ones; Tsumi voiced three key queries from the forefront of her mind.

"There are three things bothering me right now," She started, "first, how do you know Japanese, I know for sure that Matera is not a place located in Japan?"

_: Being what I am, knowing multiple languages give you an advantage._

Satisfied for now with the answer, Tsumi asked her second question. "Why do you purchase so many kids, when you can work towards bringing the illegal dealers to authorities?" This time, it took the man longer to reply.

: _It would cause more trouble than you know; most people in my world try not to involve them in any way._

His reply was short, and rather vague, but she continued on with the next question anyway, she understood how complicated things could get with the authorities.

The last question wasn't related to Toruchiwa, but Tsumi needed to know where she was. "Can you tell me what country we are in?" Tsumi waited with apprehension for his answer; she reminded herself to take some more time to study Geography, it would be important to know what languages she needed to speak in the future after all.

: _We are in Matera, Italy, young child._

It took a moment for her to understand the implications of the new information, but when she did, a wide smile spread across her face. In all the historic books she'd read, most of the information on the origin of Mafioso directed her to Sicily, Italy; if she wanted to join the Mafia, what better place to go then the country of origin itself?

"Thank you for answering my questions Toruchiwa-san," she said, she had really learned a lot from her conversation with the man.

An awkward silence fell upon the two; now that she had gotten the information she needed, there wasn't much she could talk to the Mafioso about.

She was startled when she saw the man writing once more.

_: May I ask you some questions?_

"Sure," Tsumi replied, curious on how a child like her would catch the interest of an adult.

_: Child, can you tell me why it is that you are hiding behind the façade of a boy?_

Her breath caught in her throat, of all the possible questions she'd thought he would ask this was certainly not one of them. "What do you mean, Toruchiwa-san?" She asked, trying to feign puzzlement. She saw a lop-sided smile appear on the man's face before he took back the paper and wrote out his reply.

_: You have intelligence well beyond your peers, child. I can see it, no matter how much a person tries to hide something; it is their eyes that show the most emotion._

_: As for how I know you are not a male, but a young lady. How I know that you're genuinely trying to hide your gender rather than merely wearing unisex clothing. You can say that after so many years trying to survive in my world, you learn to notice the small details that usually save your life._

She should have known her cover would be blown, it seemed like Mafioso really were on a whole other level. Although, she still didn't understand why her father had made it seem so important that she grew up behind the identity of a male. She never minded, as she wasn't really fond of those fluttery skirts that were part of the female uniform herself.

She carefully phrased her next answer, despite his kind exterior; you could never trust someone that blindly.

"Yes, I had been raised under the identity of a male, although I've never understood why." It was the truth; this she was willing to tell the man.

She noticed how his gaze lingered on her for a few moments before he looked back to write his response.

_: I have a hunch. Child, can you tell me who your parents are?_

So he suspected her parents were part of the mafia, she didn't see a reason to lie to him. For reassurance, her intuition was telling her she could trust the aristocratic looking man. She looked forward to his reply; it was possible he would be able to give her some insight on who her father was.

"My father's name is Iemitsu, Sawada Iemitsu."

Toruchiwa's looked quite shocked, his mouth opened in a silent "O". It was honestly quite a sight to behold, but Tsumi was more concerned on why her father's name had such an impact on the man, she suddenly regretted telling him who her father was, what if she had made the wrong choice?

For a moment, it seemed like he was frozen solid; she was actually starting to worry about his mental state. The man did eventually come to his senses, although his hand was shaking slightly the entire time he was writing out his reply.

_: That was an unexpected revelation. This may be surprising for you, but I knew your father in a way. He was an important figure in my world, not many knew him, but those who did, knew his power._

_: May I ask for your mother's name?_

Tsumi inwardly smiled, he was trying to tell her about her father without revealing anything about the mafia. It seems like his father had been in a pretty high position within the underground. She wanted to learn more about him.

Tsumi replied to Toruchiwa's request, and decided she might as well reveal to him her knowledge of his field of work. "My mother's name was Nana, and no, she was not part of the Mafia."

If it was possible, he seemed even more shocked by what she said than who her father was. He quickly scribbled out his reply.

_: How much do you know?_

It was a simple question, yet she knew his reason for not telling her more; for all he knew, she could have known of the existence of the Mafioso, but nothing else. She grinned before giving her response to his question.

"Not much to be honest, but I expect I will know more than enough by the end of this year. I've known about the Mafia for about three years now. As for information, I only know that Mafioso sometimes band together and form "Famiglie," besides that, nothing else." She paused to take a breath before continuing.

"I would appreciate it if you tell me more about what you do." Spotting the man's furrowed eyebrows, she added, "After all, I'm planning to make my entrance to the world within the next few years."

Toruchiwa looked at her for some time as if he was searching for a deeper meaning, soon his eyes narrowed, and he quickly wrote down his reply.

_: For revenge._

Even though the words were written on paper, she could tell that he wasn't asking a question.

"That pretty much summed it up," she confirmed with a nod. The man suddenly snatched back the paper and scribbled his words down. She somehow got the feeling that he was angry at her.

_: You do not know what you are getting into._

She shot an annoyed glare back at the man, "I do so know what I'm getting into!" She didn't care if she'd sounded childish at the moment, who was he to shoot down the plans she had put together for years?

_: What will you do after you avenge their deaths, what will you do then?_

"Well I-, "Tsumi suddenly stopped, not sure how to go on. What would she do after she got her revenge? Her intelligent mind came up with a blank; there would be nothing else left for her. If she gave in to her hatred, sure she would eventually succeed in hunting the assassins down. What would become of her then? Tsumi wasn't sure if even ending their lives would be enough to satisfy her loathing. In the end, she still wouldn't have her parents back.

Suddenly, she felt a chill run through her body, she would be nothing else but a murderer, and then what would she do? She felt herself shaking, and looked desperately at Toruchiwa; she didn't know what she wanted anymore. The prospect of living alone, with no one to interact with terrified her.

The man looked back at her with understanding eyes. It was then she realized the reason why he seemed to connect so well with her, he had probably been under and experienced the same circumstances as her.

"What should I do?" She managed to breathe out; she wanted his advice on how she could fix the situation. His hand seemed to move excruciatingly slow as she watched him write out his answer.

_: You need to first come to terms with your grieving, child._

'_Come to terms?' _There was nothing she needed to accept and deal with. "What are you talking about, Toruchiwa-san?"

_: You need to allow yourself to grieve for your parents. I've said it before; it is unhealthy to keep your emotions locked up._

"I don't understand what you mean, I've already grieved for them." Tsumi didn't bother asking how he had known that her parents were dead; word had probably spread quickly since her father had been somewhat infamous. She didn't want to think anymore about her late parents. She knew they weren't there anymore; did he want her to feel sorry for herself?

No sounds came out, but she knew the man had sighed. Tsumi suddenly felt rage stir from within her. He had no right to tell her what to do. She stood up, all of a sudden wishing to be anywhere else but in the room with the man. She made to leave the room, only to be held back as she realized her arm was once again in the firm grip of the man. She didn't struggle this time; instead she stared with narrowed eyes at Toruchiwa, daring him to keep holding on.

While Tsumi certainly had a stronger aura than children her age, it was still not enough to intimidate a veteran Mafioso who had experienced the killing intent of many on a daily basis. The man didn't even look fazed as he merely pulled her closer to him. She soon found herself being pulled in a hug.

A shocked expression appeared on her face, she kept on opening and closing her mouth, trying but failing to say something. Finally, the man released the girl from his hug, but continued to keep her close to him. His eyes appeared a few shades darker than usual as he held looked firmly upon the young girl.

Tsumi returned his gaze, not willing to back down. She suddenly blinked when she heard a faint whispered sentence within her mind.

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, she couldn't make out the words spoken in the sentence. A few seconds later, she heard the same whisper again, this time loud enough that she was about to catch a sentence. She had heard "She really reminds me of how I used to be." She shot a curious glance at Toruchiwa, having the feeling the words had came from him.

"Did you just say something, Toruchiwa-san?" She wanted to make sure she wasn't finally cracking under the pressure. She figured she wasn't supposed to when the man's eyes widened in surprise.

She heard a whisper in her head again, this time she heard the words "Yes, what you just heard came from me." Tsumi was currently rather confused; it was an unnerving experience hearing the voice of the person sitting across from you inside your mind. "

Are you a telepathic?" She asked aloud, finding the silence of telekinetic conversations needing some time to get used to.

Another answer conveyed through telepathy. "Can you trust me enough to grant me entry into your mind?" She numbly nodded her head, not quite sure what she was getting herself into.

Reflecting a little, Tsumi felt as if her actions from the last few days were out of character. Usually, she would be much more in control of herself as well as more attentive to her surroundings.

She suddenly felt faint, black and white spots started appearing at the edges of her vision, and she started feeling very tired and weak. Soon the dark spots starting taking over and she felt as if she was falling into a dark hole.

She came back to awareness to the sound of her name being called.

"Tsumi… Tsumi…" Realizing that she was lying on her back at the moment, she made her way to an upright position. She looked to her left and saw Toruchiwa staring back at her. A little startled by the sudden change in location, she asked him where they were. The man replied with a knowing look, "Why, we are currently inside your consciousness."

At that moment, Tsumi realized two things; that this place looked eerily similar to that of the location in her nightmares prior to meeting Shamal, and that Toruchiwa was actually talking.

"You can talk," She stated, her tone asking for an explanation. The man sat down beside her, and nodded,

"As everything is happening within your mental mind, whatever physical condition my body was in does not matter. This is an important piece of knowledge, for if you ever become aware of unwanted disturbances from people attacking your mind, you will be able to confine intruders and teach them a lesson," here he paused for a second before continuing,

"The possibilities are limitless with this particular skill, as you would be able to use your imagination. If you become proficient enough in detecting foreign intrusions, it would make differing between illusions and reality much easier."

She took a minute to process the implications of what he'd said before replying. "I think something like this happened to me before, my memory of it is kind of distorted. I thought it was a nightmare at the time; there was this man, constantly surround by shadows so I can't describe what he looked like, but he could read my mind." She paused to take a breath, "He knocked me unconscious soon after, I think he did something to me because I started living through twisted versions of my memories."

Torushiwa looked thoughtful, "Do you remember him using a violet colored aura?" Feeling confused by his strange question, she replied in the negative.

"I'm not sure what happened, but from the way you described him, he seemed like one of those mist flame users." When she asked him to elaborate the man looked to be deliberating something, before replying that it would be best if he showed what he meant instead.

She watched as he closed his eyes, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. Her mouth fell open as she witnessed in front of her eyes, flickering blue-purple flames suddenly seep out of the man's body. It was mesmerizing in a way; he looked as if he was being possessed by spirits. Slowly, Toruchiwa opened his eyes; she could see a slight change in the color of his irises, which was now a light shade of royal blue.

"Are these the violet flames you were talking about, Toruchiwa-san," She managed to breathe out, her eyes still fixated on the flames. She received a nod in affirmation.

"It's… beautiful," the flames were gently swirling around the man, but she could also feel the strength radiating from them. She suddenly remembered something she'd forgotten in the fragments of her nightmares, "Toruchiwa-san is it possible that for these flames to be represented in different colours?" She thought back to the orange flames she'd seen once before.

He allowed the flames to retreat before answering, "Why of course, there are a total of seven known flames; they correspond to the colors of the rainbow. The flames are: Cloud, Mist, Rain, Lightning, Sun, Sky, and Storm," as he said this, the colors purple, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red appeared to the side of him with the name of their flames underneath them.

Tsumi was slightly shocked by the sudden appearance of the images, but brushed it off as something you could do within the psyche; instead she voiced her identification of the flame she'd seen that fateful night. "I remember seeing bright orange flames in a dream before; they soon became indigo and flickered away though."

He asked her to show him what she meant by that, so she focused, searching out her memory of that moment and projected it for the man to see.

After seeing the strange occurrence, Toruchiwa frowned as he came to a conclusion, "The only answer I have to what happened would be that the mist flames took over the sky flames, it's is only a speculation though." He suddenly looked at her with a strange expression, "Do you know the reason why you saw the orange flames in the first place?"

Tsumi answered after a moment of thinking, "I think it was trying to guide me somewhere at least that was what it seemed like. You see, I didn't know I was within my own mind at the time, and so I was wondering around in the dark. Why do you want to know?" She didn't think the flames had been that strange of an occurrence.

The man looked perplexed, "It's just that… sky flames are quite rare within the mafia; there are probably only a few hundred people within the entire world that even have the potential to wield this flame."

Her eyes widened slightly at that tidbit of info, now she saw why Toruchiwa was confused. "I'm sorry, I do not know why it appeared at that time," She answered truthfully, although she promised herself to research more on that topic in the future.

As there was no use delving into a mystery with no further information, Toruchiwa chose to direct the conversation back towards the different types of flames. "Going back on topic, it was believed that the origin of these flames went back farther than Primo's time, four hundred years ago."

Seeing her confused look at the mention of Primo he elaborated, "Primo was the founder of the currently most powerful mafia group of our time."

She nodded to show she understood, and he continued. "Scientists studying these mysterious flames are still not sure how they came into existence only that soon people began to learn to wield them. One thing we found out from the studies was that the flames of a user slightly contribute to their personality, or it might be that their personalities affected what flames they have." Toruchiwa paused to take a breath before continuing; she could see from the way his eyes lit up, that the man was quite interested in these things.

"For example, if you were looking for people with a storm flame affinity, your first option would be to search out people with brash, stubborn, and basically wild personalities."

Tsumi thought of telling him about the slight changes in her mood based on the different weather conditions, but decided it was a trivial matter, instead she asked him two more questions. "Toruchiwa-san, is there a method used to discover one's flame and their potential to wield them? How did you discover yours?"

The man replied immediately, looking eager to answer her questions.

"It is believed that everyone in this world has the potential to wield flames; many don't unlock that potential as they never knew it was there. As for how I found my flame, I think it was within the second year I had joined the Mafioso world, I overheard a conversation between two drunken scientists and decided to experiment on it."

She could see now why the man looked so happy when he talked about the subject, the mystery behind the flames was truly fascinating. Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized what he meant by his last sentence. "Y-you mean I might have a flame too?" Toruchiwa merely smiled,

"Tsumi, you have the potential to unlock the rarest flame of all, after all, your father was one of the few wielders of the sky flame."

She could only manage a small "wow," it was rather exciting, to think that she might be able to produce flames just like Toruchiwa. "You seem very well versed in the knowledge of the mafia world." He laughed sheepishly,

"You could say that I was a bookworm, and when I discovered this new world, I searched through all the books within my reach for information." He paused before adding, "There was also the fact that I have good relationships with the people in my Famiglia; people felt like they can trust me with things."

"That's amazing Toruchiwa-san," She said much to the embarrassment of the man. "Wait a minute," She just remembered something, "I don't think I've told you my name, so why did you call me Tsumi?" He looked surprised before smiling apologetically at her,

"I'm sorry Tsumi-chan I've been reading minds for so long that skimming for the basic information of everyone I meet has become a habit of mine."

She frowned a little before answering, "I don't mind, Toruchiwa-san, but please ask for my permission in the future, I don't like it when my privacy is invaded." He gave her an understanding nod,

"I know what you mean; secrets are treasured within the Mafia."

"Is every Mafioso able to read minds," Tsumi suddenly asked, the very prospect made her worried. She raised an eyebrow when the man suddenly smirked.

"Actually, there are not many besides a handful of people within the Mafia that know how to do this." He looked thoughtful for a moment, before continuing, "There is one requirement though, from what I know; only people with a mist affinity were able to make progress on this technique. The only ones who mastered the art of mind reading were those who had Mist as their main flame."

She voiced a question she had, "What do you mean by "as their main flame" Toruchiwa-san?" He looked to have thought deeply before he answered,

"How should I put it? Some people are born with an affinity to more than just one flame, although it is rare to find people with more than two flames. Everyone always has one main flame that they can use more efficiently than others though."

"Is there a way to tell what flame I have?" She was honestly quite curious to what her affinity was.

"As far as I know, the only way to unlock them is through rigorous training, meditation, or overcoming a dire situation. I have a feeling though, that you have an affinity towards the Mist flame."

Hearing his opinion, she couldn't help but ask why.

"Well, remember when you projected your memory for me to see? That was not something people would be able to do easily, it's about the skill level of a novice mind reader with a few years of experience under their belt."

She blushed at his indirect compliment, "I don't know why…I just searched through my memories and pulled out the one I wanted," she managed to stutter out Toruchiwa looked surprised,

"So it was your first time doing something like that?" After giving him a confused look she answered,

"Yes, I guess I just followed my intuition." This seemed to put him in a pensive mood,

Tsumi seeing him lost in thought decided to give him some time. She was going over all the information she'd gotten from the talk with the brown haired man, when she was brought back to reality by an "I got it!", puzzled by his exclamation she asked,

"Sorry, but what did you get?" Toruchiwa grinned before looking her straight in the eyes,

"Listen Tsumi-chan, even with the top level treatments and medication I get, I only have a month at most left in me." He gave her a look to stop her from interrupting, "I've just decided that I might as well use the time I have left to train you."

Tsumi could only stare at him with a shocked look on her face.

* * *

**Tsuki**** Minami**: Another one of Tsumi's names, like the name Tsunami she'd used when she was with Shamal. One of Tsumi's aliases, she used this one while under the care of the Ichiros.

**Natsuhiboshi**: Lullaby from Naruto, song by Fukami Rika - Correct me if I'm wrong.

**Matera**: A famous southern-town in Italy, famous for its atmospheric sights.

**Flight:** The flight time from Japan to Italy takes about 12 hours, just a random note.

**Toruchiwa Takeda**: An OC that will be feature in this chapter as well as the next few.

* * *

**A/N:** Here is chapter 4! As you can probably tell by now, the pace of this story is rather slow, and I'm trying to work on scaling down my need to put in extra details. I'm feeling slightly irked at the moment, because I feel like there was something I wanted to add to a part of this chapter, but I've forgotten what after a five minute distraction. I'll edit later if I remember anything.

_Thanks for reading this chapter, and please be patient with me!_  
_I'm the type of person that would suspend an upload if I feel like the quality of the chapter is not up my standards._

_Thanks to the guest who gave my story the second review! I appreciate the Favourites and Alerts this story has been receiving :)_

_If you have any questions, feel free to ask in a review or PM me!_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Please refer to the first chapter

* * *

Last Chapter:

_"I've just decided that I might as well use the time I have left to train you."_

_Tsumi could only stare at him with a shocked look on her face._

* * *

Chapter 5: **Acknowledgements**

"To train me," She repeated, as if not sure what he meant.

"Yes, I figured that I probably wouldn't be able to change your decision in a month, if you're as stubborn as I'm starting to think you are, so I might as well guide you along. You'll be more informed and thus less liable to make amateur mistakes this way." His expression suddenly turned darker,

"There are more ways than you would think for a person to start spiraling into the darkness, and that is not a place I want you to be." The serious tone left his voice as if it had never been there,

"So, don't worry about telling me your secrets, I don't have long to live anyway and I have nothing to gain from betraying you; besides, I may be able to help you understand some things."

"I-I'm not sure…" She wasn't sure if she was ready to trust him, hadn't she promised herself to go through this alone?

"Don't worry; I'm going to give you three days to make your decision." He seemed to know how hard it was for her, and she was grateful he didn't already give up on her because of her hesitance.

"Alright," She answered with a nod, it was the least she could to for him, after he'd helped her so much. She shuddered when she thought of what may have happened if Toruchiwa hadn't been the one to meet her.

With the man's offer of a mentorship for the month, she could see that they neared the end of their conversation, but Tsumi wasn't sure how to leave her mind.

Seeing her fidgeting, the man asked if she was okay, she blushed slightly before muttering,

"I don't know how to leave my mind." Toruchiwa blinked twice, before collapsing into a fit of laughter.

"It isn't that funny!" She snapped, feeling her face heating up even more.

"I-I know, but I just can't help it! You should've seen the look on your face!" The man continued chuckling and Tsumi just decided to wait it out with a pout on her face. He soon became calm enough to explain to her how to leave.

"It's simple really; just imagine expelling yourself outside of this "Room".

Following his instructions, Tsumi closed her eyes, finding it easier to concentrate that way. _'Expel myself… how do I do that? Do I have to use force?'_ Finding it tiresome to worry so much, she just decided to imagine herself floating away and was pleasantly surprised when she was greeted with the sight of a smiling Toruchiwa sitting across from her.

When he made to stand up, she did the same. She gave a formal bow to the man, signifying her sincere gratitude for all he had done for her so far. He gave her a nod before making his way out of the room, gently closing the door behind him. She waited until she was sure the man was a suitable distance away before allowing her shoulders to sag with exhaustion. She would have time to think, right after she took a much needed nap.

Slowly, she made her way to the side of the room and unceremoniously dropped herself onto the four poster bed, not bothering to change her clothes (not that she had any spare ones); she fell into a dreamless sleep in less than a minute.

* * *

xXXx

She brought her hand up to cover her yawn, she still felt so tired. She had slept for longer than usual; a nice long rest so, why was it that she barely had enough energy to clutch her hands at the moment? Tsumi decided she might as well stay in bed; it wasn't like her decision had to be rushed. It was nice, having the comfort of a bed for once. She stared blankly at the cream colored ceiling of the room, all the tension must be getting to her.

Her stomach chose that moment to let out a growl, telling her just how much time had passed since she'd last eaten. She managed to turn her head enough to glance at the clock stationed at the opposite side of the room. It was a quarter to ten in the morning; she couldn't remember the last time she'd slept past nine. She knew she needed to eat something, but just couldn't find the strength to move. She soon found a solution to her problem as two knocks were heard from the other side of the door.

She quickly called out a "Come in" in response to the taps, realizing she didn't need to unlock the door as she had went straight to bed yesterday.

A warmly smiling Toruchiwa walked in, carrying with him a tray containing food. She breathed in deeply as the light aroma of a traditional Japanese breakfast wafted towards her. She blushed as her stomach showed its appreciation by letting out another growl.

The man chuckled as he set her breakfast down on the coffee table. He made his way to her, and after setting himself down on the side of the bed looked expectantly into her eyes. She forced herself not to react as she heard a voice that was not her own speak out in her mind; one day just wasn't enough for her to get used to the telepathic messages.

"Do you need help getting up?" She shyly answered in the positive; she would probably embarrass herself by collapsing if she tried sitting up without aid anyway.

A Quarter of an hour later, Tsumi was happily munching on her breakfast, as well as trying not to look too curious as to what her apparent guardian was doing. He had eaten an hour earlier, as he hadn't wanted to wake her from her peaceful slumber. Right now, the man was working on what appeared to be a list. Another quarter of an hour passed in this way; Tsumi trying to keep herself busy with her breakfast, and Toruchiwa seemingly being ignorant of the ongoing silence, lost in making his list.

After finishing her satisfying breakfast, Tsumi sat in awkward silence, not wanting to disturb the man in whatever he was doing. She decided she might as well use the extra time to wash the dishes, so she picked up the tray and cautiously left the room, a quick look telling her the man was still entirely focused on his list.

She carefully made her way down the wooden staircase, making sure she kept her balance while carrying the tray. She remembered where the kitchens were from a short scan she'd done of the house after she'd just been brought here. In enemy territory or not, it was sensible to determine and have knowledge of the possible escape routes available for use in case of emergencies.

After rinsing and drying the dishes, Tsumi laid them onto a wooden drying rack to the side of the sink. She couldn't help but be reminded of all times she would help her mother clean up after meals. Shaking her head, she rid herself of the memories; they were things of the past now, and she would need to keep on moving forward, towards the future.

After wiping the counter of any residue soap bubbles, she left the kitchen and slowly made her way up the stairs. Her hand lingered on the cold, hard metal surface of the doorknob, as she briefly thought of her decision to lock away the past, not sure if it was the right thing to do.

"I must be strong_,_" She muttered, ignoring how much it sounded as if she was reassuring herself; she rotated the knob and entered the room.

Judging by the way he was relaxing on the carpet and smiling up at her, it appeared that Toruchiwa had been waiting for her. She sat down on the carpet, and looked expectantly up at the man; it looked like he wanted to say something.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked via telepathy, to start the conversation. She could tell he was sincerely worried about her,

"I had a great rest, thank you for asking." The man smiled,

"That's good to hear, you looked like you could use some rest."

She had to agree with him, all the stress and events of the last few days had taken its toll on her. "So, was there something you wanted to ask of me, Toruchiwa-san?" She went straight to the point, wanting to finish the conversation as fast as possible; she needed to go back to sleep, it seemed like she was still tired from yesterday. The man gave her a knowing look,

"I know you're tired, but you may want to listen to what I have to say." Seeing that he'd gotten her attention, the man continued, "May I reenter your mind? It is easier to converse that way."

Judging by her feeling of fatigue right after last night's conversation, Tsumi had deduced that anything done in the mindscape exhausted her afterwards. Now she wasn't sure if this was only a onetime thing, or if using it more often lessened the effects, but she was slightly curious on what the man wanted to talk about.

Sighing in resignation, she gave a curt nod and soon found herself feeling the familiar drained feeling she'd felt the last time she was pulled into her mind.

After getting over the slight disorientating feeling she got from the switch between surroundings, Tsumi turned her attention to the man in front of her.

Toruchiwa was pacing back and forth; he then suddenly turned in her direction and declared, "There is a pressing matter at hand that I believe needs to be addressed."

Tsumi had the sinking feeling that she was not going to like the conversation. Her intuition told her that she would come out of the discussion feeling better though; she trusted the advice, so she sat herself down and prepared herself for the words to come.

"You need to let yourself mourn for your parents," he stated coming right to the point, the look in his eyes telling her he was not going to let it go this time.

She had to force herself not to immediately deny his advice. She decided she might as well hear his reasons first, "…Why did you think I have not yet grieved for them?" The man looked pleased that she was willing to stay,

"I believe you have grieved for them yes, but you are going towards your revenge the wrong way," he replied calmly.

Not quite sure what he meant, she asked him to elaborate.

"You are keeping your feelings and memories of your parents locked away. Don't you find it strange how you're able to think of them so distantly?" Her eyes widened, as he had guessed exactly what she was doing.

She gave her retort, "How is it a bad thing?"

He gave her a pointed look, "You're feeling empty whenever you think about your parents, what you need in order to move on is to accept their deaths."

Tsumi could only look down at her legs, she could feel a dull throbbing sensation coming from her mind, wasn't it a good thing that she wasn't moping or destroying herself by grieving too much? She looked up at the man in response to his next words.

"I know it's hard to look into the future, and knowing your new reality would be one where they are not with you."

"They will always be with you, Tsumi, looking over you; you're scared to recognize the loss you would feel when you finally embrace your new life."

She ignored the tears that were now streaming down the sides of her face; her body was trembling from keeping in her sobs.

"I know how frightening it is, child, you've only lived seven years of your life, and now you have to learn to stand up for yourself." She managed give a nod, realizing that she needed to face her fears.

"You're scared to live your life alone; and you thought that was what you needed to do in order to survive the mafia." She gave another nod through her tears.

"Don't you realize Tsumi-chan? If its friendships and acceptance you're looking for, you can just create your own family." Teary eyes looked at the man in confusion.

"The mafia world is not all about bloodshed, there are many families that exist solely for the bonds they create. You can look for others like you, people who will look out for you, and stay with you in times of sadness. You don't need to be alone Tsumi-chan."

Toruchiwa stopped his speech than, having nothing more to say. Nothing more was needed, as Tsumi leapt in his arms, crying her heart out after having finally come to terms with her fears. She felt a weight lift from her very soul; it was exactly what she had been looking for.

'_I don't need to be alone for the rest of my life…_'

* * *

xXXx

"So… Have you thought about my offer?" After she had finished letting her emotions free, Toruchiwa had allowed her to rest on his lap, all the while gently stroking her hair.

Tsumi had been lulled into a semi-conscious state by the silence, when she was brought back to reality by the man's question. There really wasn't a lot to think about, she could see herself learning from the Mafioso. "Yes, I've made my choice," She replied softly, still feeling tired from her emotional breakdown.

"Can I ask what it is Tsumi-chan?" The man asked his normally calm voice included a hint of nervousness. She lifted her face so that she was looking at him,

"I would be honored to accept your offer," She replied with a smile. This earned her a beaming grin from her new tutor,

"Great! I can't wait to get started."

"Can we begin the lessons later today, sensei?" Toruchiwa couldn't keep the grin from his face upon hearing her call him teacher,

"Sure, may I ask why?" Tsumi gave the man a sheepish smile before answering,

"I think it's been a week since I've last cleaned myself, I feel dirty." Her response brought a chuckle out of the man, which made her giggle a little herself.

"How about we take a break for five or so hours? We can start our lesson in the evening," Suggested Toruchiwa.

"Sure," She agreed, she reluctantly left her position from her sensei's crossed legs and stood up, stretching to loosen her stiff muscles.

Toruchiwa also stood up. Noticing how comfortable he seemed, she couldn't help but ask a question, "Sensei, do you not feel sore from spending so much time sitting down?" His legs must have become numb by now. She saw her new teacher smirk at her query,

"I'm glad you caught on to this, Tsumi. You see, when we enter minds, only our mentality per say comes with us, our physical bodies remain unguarded. That is also a reason for why mind reading is a dangerous ability, using the skill in the wrong moment would allow an enemy to injure you with little trouble."

He paused for a moment in his explanation to take a breath, "Physical pains are not really felt here, it is your own mind that allows you to feel the illusion of the five senses." Here the man seemed to pout for a second,

"Well, basically, there is no semblance of pain in your mind; you could even make it so that there is no need to breathe, but even experienced Mafioso like me have trouble remembering that." He then sighed,

"I really want to skip the fundamentals and just jump in to teaching you how to create illusions and defend your mind, but I guess I have to be patient, we do have some time."

"Um…alright," Tsumi replied uncertainly. Another question crossed her mind, "Oh! Sensei, it's just a random question, but how do you tell how much time have passed when we're in a mindscape?" The man grinned, happy to teach his student more.

"Good question Tsumi-chan, right now, I can tell you that our conversation is passing in real time. Although, believe it or not, you can make it so that time passes slower in your mind than in reality; of course it is a hard skill to learn and only few people ever bother to learn it, the reason being how difficult it is to learn this technique. How should I put it…If a mind reader with years of studying in their arsenal were to try, they may find that time would be slowed in their mind up to 10 seconds compared to each second in real time."

Somehow, he'd managed to say all that in one breath. She tried to comprehend how the time altering technique worked,

"It sounds…kind of hard to get used to, how exactly does it benefit the user?"

Toruchiwa smiled, a proud glint showing in his eyes, "You're quite perceptive Tsumi-chan."

"It is not the most useful skill; even after you get used to the transaction between the mind and reality, there is not much you can do with the extra time."

"I think I got that," She said after pondering over the strange skill. In order to find out the time, she had to take in consideration the amount of mind reader's there were in a mindscape; '_Going with the assumption that a group of people share the same perception of time as the mist flame user._' She was a beginner in all the fields, so the time shouldn't be altered by her, and she didn't think her teacher would bother to use it for a mere conversation. "So about an hour have passed since we started our conversation?" Toruchiwa gave his answer with a nod,

"I believe that is correct." She replied with an "I see now", thinking over the possibilities that existed with the technique were giving her a headache, so she decided to stop pondering over them for the moment.

"Sensei, there's just one more thing bothering me at this time…" She trailed off, not sure if she was troubling her new mentor too much with her questions.

"Go on Tsumi-chan," The man of her concerns unexpectedly said, as if reading her mind. He suddenly laughed, "I don't need to read your mind to know when you have another question, your face tells me everything I need to know.

She pouted for a second; she wasn't that easy to read, was she?

"Well," She began, "I've noticed that my mindscape isn't exactly lit up by any light source, so how is it that I'm able to see you? She saw the man's expression turn confused for a moment before he gave his response.

"I've never actually thought about that… It's probably because you "know" that I am here. The mind is a complicated thing to study, that's why there isn't much information available."

"I think I got that," She said with a smile, today was turning out to be a productive day; there were so many new topics she would be able to research further on for information.

"I'm going to leave now, sensei," Tsumi said after seeing the man didn't have anything else to say.

"Ah! Please wait a second!" She paused when she heard the man's request.

"Tsumi-chan, before you go, I want you to tell me what you've learned today," His serious tone suggested that he wasn't talking about the answers she'd received to her questions. '_Was there a secret meaning behind the responses?_ _Thinking back to the start of the conversation, there was the_ _time I've spent crying, and the three questions I've asked…If it doesn't have anything to do with the questions…' _It was then that she realized,

"Don't worry, Toru-sensei!" She giggled at the look that crossed his face upon hearing his nickname, "I won't forget about the memory of my parents!" Upon seeing his approving nod, Tsumi went back to focusing on exiting her mind.

After returning to reality, she thanked Toruchiwa, wishing him a good afternoon before leaving the room to use the showers.

'_This is heaven…_' It had been a long time since she'd been able to enjoy the warm, soothing feel of a good shower. Ever since, she'd left Hyoshimiru village to be exact. She had been too paranoid to venture into any public baths, so she had to make do with bathing in the bodies of water she would come upon throughout her journey.

'_I feel so relaxed right now_,' she didn't want to leave the paradise she was currently in, but knew she needed to get on with preparations for training, she wanted some time to go over what she'd learned today anyway. Reluctantly, she turned the shower off, dried herself, and put on the new set of clothes Toruchiwa had provided.

She didn't quite feel like staying the entire day in the house, so she made her way down the stairs to the first floor hallway; '_I remember Toru-sensei_ _say that this house also had a backyard, that would be the perfect place to spend the rest of the afternoon.'_

Finally finding the back door in a room bare from furniture, she exited the house making sure to close the door behind her.

Breathing in the fresh air, she immediately felt her worries begin to fade into the background, it was impossible for her not to relax under the warm gaze of the sun. She did wonder, from time to time, why she felt such solace whenever she found herself under the various conditions of the weather, especially when there was a clear blue sky. Now that she knew about the existence of flames, she had to wonder if it had anything to do with her flame affinity.

She surveyed the backyard; it looked quite different than what she had expected to be honest. With most single male housings, you would think any attempts at caring for a garden would be filled with weeds from prolonged neglect. Her new mentor seemed to be an exception to what she'd known to be true so far. From what she'd seen of Matera, there weren't as much greenery here as Hyoshimiru or Namimori; it seemed like her teacher had put a lot of effort into caring for his backyard.

The grass that covered the area was trimmed and looked a healthy green; there was a section for foliage and a separate one for flowers, the décor that topped it off was a pebbled path leading from the backdoor to a wooden garden swing bench at the end of the property. The fence that encased the backyard didn't make it look too small either, instead it added to the effect of a nice, humble property. She slowly made her way towards the seat, enjoying the scenery around her. She took the top off the bench, preferring a clear view of the sky.

'It feels so relaxing," She couldn't help but speak out loud after laying down on the bench, the slight back and forth swaying was making her relax even more. The weather was certainly breathtaking that day, the brightly shining sun that would sometimes be hidden by drifting clouds only added to the effect.

She shielded her eyes with the back of her right hand; she loved peaceful days like these. Tsumi closed her eyes and allowed the sun's rays to shine over her body, taking the time to slowly mull over the things she'd learned from her conversations with Toruchiwa.

She was taking a liking to the strange brown-haired Mafioso; he had a gentle gaze that made her feel protected and safe. It seemed like the man was living alone, as she hadn't seen any signs that indicated the man was sharing the house with others. The kitchen did not have many spare plates, other bedrooms besides his were clean and covered with a thin layer of dust, and the single pair of shoes beside the front door (excluding her own) was among the things she'd noticed.

She knew that the man was not a saint by any means of inference, being a veteran in the underworld did not come without having your record being stained by the blood of others. She felt drawn to him, whether because his eyes told her of a past not unlike her own or because of his charisma, it didn't matter; she would stay by his side until his last breath.

Her train of thought turned to another direction. '_What Toru-sensei said about flames sounded really interesting,' _she couldn't help but think of the possibilities that came with their usage, just like when she'd first discovered her own special ability, her mind went crazy with ideas on how to use her power and the limits which she could use them to.

'_I know there are seven main types of flames, so does that mean there are sub-type flames, ones created by people who managed to mix two flames together?' _She could go entire days just thinking about the theories behind their existence, but she would save it for a rainy day, '_Right now, a nap sounds great…_'

She was in the process of dozing off into her own world, when she felt a tap to the side of her left arm.

She opened her eyes, only to close them almost immediately after almost getting blinded by the rays of sunlight around her. Her eyes slowly became adjusted to the sudden light and soon she could see her teacher standing beside her. She tilted her head slightly to face him as she spoke,

"Hello sensei, I really like your backyard, it's very beautiful." She was rewarded with a sheepish looking Toruchiwa. The man than extended the object he'd been holding with his hands; seeing a tray containing a simple sandwich, garden salad, and a glass of milk, she could only assume that it was meant for her.

"Lunch?" she asked, and upon seeing his affirming nod, she took the tray, thanking him. The man nodded, giving a small wave and headed back towards the two storied house.

Tsumi couldn't help but stare at the retreating figure of her teacher until he'd disappeared back into the house; there were so many things she wanted to learn about the man, just like there were many mysteries in the world she would like to solve. Her heart swelled with excitement as she realized just how much time she had ahead of her, and she wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't give her all in her lessons from now on.

Slowly, she took a bite out of one of the triangular pieces of her scrambled egg sandwich, smiling as she found it made with just the right amount of spices. She went through her lunch at a decent pace, simply enjoying the bright day.

After finishing her meal, she placed the containers neatly back onto the tray, and left it on the grass near the swinging bench for the time being. She still wanted to take her nap.

She continued gazing at the sky above her enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by serene nature. Little by little, she drifted off to sleep, caressed by the afternoon breeze.

* * *

xXXx

She slowly opened her eyes, '_how long have I been asleep?_' Her naps always lasted longer than normal, so she wouldn't be surprised if more than three hours had passed.

She gently stretched the various parts of her body, starting from her toes and making her way up, finally ending at her head; it had long since become a routine for her to loosen her muscles every time she woke from her rest. It managed to make her feel more relaxed while ensuring she wouldn't be prone to contracting cramps should she make sudden movements. She hated contractions; they always lasted for at least an entire day and constantly swerved to make her irritable.

After finishing her stretches, Tsumi looked up at the sky for a moment; judging by the clear sky and the brightly shining sun in the horizon, she deduced that it was around six in the afternoon. Sunset would be around seven in the evening. She had slept for six or so hours, '_no wonder I feel so refreshed._'

Her gaze turned to her torso as she felt her hand brush by something soft. She smiled upon seeing the pale blue blanket that covered her lower body, her sensei must have checked up on her while she was asleep; now that she thought about it, something like this had happened before; a situation where she found herself being covered by a blanket upon waking up.

It was about half a year ago, if she remembered correctly; when she'd fell asleep after escaping Shamal's care, it was at Namimori Shrine, and she'd woken up covered by a light purple blanket. Realizing she was going into a stupor, she rid her head of any unnecessary thoughts; it was about time to head back into the house. Toruchiwa had said they would start her first lesson in the evening.

She neatly folded the blanket into a rectangle, and still clutching it, got up from the garden swing bench that had been her resting spot for the past few hours. She looked at the ground around her, having remembered the tray that had contained her lunch. She didn't see the tray where she'd last left it. Thinking her teacher had taken the tray back in when he came to check up on her, Tsumi made her way along the pebbled path back towards the house.

She checked for the time from the clock within the kitchen; it was half past six, '_He will be calling me anytime now_.'

Tsumi placed the folded blanket within a laundry basket and after using a moment to decide what she should do next, she ascended the stairs, opting to wait for the man in her room.

She decided she might as well read some books while she waited. Luckily, there was a shelf full of books located in her room. '_Strange, I don't remember there being books when I first came_,' she walked towards the shelf to examine it. She quickly browsed the titles, looking for something that would entertain her until Toruchiwa came.

She soon came upon a dilemma; every single book on the shelf interested her. There were books on analyzing, escaping, and to her surprise hacking; many other tomes were there, but she decided to read those books first, finding them more interesting. Her mouth watered at the prospect of reading so many books, it seemed like the following month would be an interesting one indeed. She picked a book on analyzing to start with, and quickly settled herself down on a sofa near the side of the room, eager to read the text.

She nestled into her preferred reading position, lying flat on her stomach with her feet crossed in the air, she didn't know when exactly she'd started reading that way, but one day she did, and before she knew it she was doing all her reading in that manner.

She gently traced the title of the book with the index finger of her right hand, '_evaluating your enemies: The key to victory by Takeshiru Amako; interesting title_.' She'd read books on the genre before, but this one seemed to be talking about something else, not just simply understanding someone's facial expressions and body language. She carefully opened the book and started skimming the table of contents, wanting to get an idea of what topics would be discussed within the tome.

There were only three headings stated; Observing, Thinking, and Taking action. It was a little unusual for a book to have fewer than five headings, but Tsumi didn't mind, as long as the book gave her more knowledge. She flipped to the next page to read the preface, something she always did when reading a book. While many people would skip over such insignificant things in favor of reading the main information, Tsumi liked finding out how the books she read came into existence.

An hour passed in this way, and she was already halfway through the tome when Toruchiwa came knocking at her door. After letting the man in, Tsumi followed him to her place around the coffee table.

"How was your afternoon, Tsumi-chan?" Toruchiwa asked telepathically with a smile.

"It was very enjoyable as well as relaxing," She replied enthusiastically, feeling rejuvenated from her rest. She couldn't help but ask, "Did you place those books on the shelf? I don't remember seeing them when I woke up this morning." The man gave what seemed to be an approving nod before relaying his answer,

"Ah yes, I'm happy to see that you're taking note of your surroundings, I brought some books I thought you would be interested in when you were in the backyard.

Feeling slightly embarrassed from his praise, she decided to change the topic.

"So…Sensei, what is our first lesson going to be about?" The man rubbed his chin in contemplation,

"I think I'm going to be questioning you a little, to find out the information I need. I'll try to explain some things you may have questions about if we have time. The main goal right now is for me to adjust your training regime according to what you already know.

"Alright, I can't wait to start!" She replied eagerly. "Wait a second…" Something clicked in her mind when she thought over what the man had said, "Training regime, that was the paper you were writing on this morning, wasn't it! ... Ah! You already knew I was going to accept your offer!" Toruchiwa raised his hands in a placating gesture upon seeing her irritated face,

"Haha… You caught me, I just had a feeling you would accept you see, please don't be angry!"

Although the chances had been high that she would say yes, she never did like it when people determined how she would react, no matter how small their actions were, '_It's my choice after all_'; she allowed him to get away with it this time, but next instance, if the same thing happened she would give him a piece of her mind.

"Fine," She replied, although her tone sounded annoyed, "Please don't decide my options for me in the future. So, do we enter my mind again?" Seeing the man's nod of affirmation, she immediately got to work concentrating on entering her mindscape, she still needed at least five minutes of meditation until she was able to clear her thoughts enough to enter her mind, but she was improving.

Soon she found herself standing across from her teacher. Looking around at the seemingly never-ending darkness that surrounded her, she couldn't help but ask,

"Ne Toru-sensei," a grimace, "Is there a way to change what your mindscape looks like? For example, change the surroundings to a more…pleasant setting?"

The man grinned, "I was wondering when you would ask this question," he chuckled before continuing, "Yes, it is possible to change your mindscape, the lone limit being one's creativity; the one catch is that only mist flame users with many years of experience behind them are able to manage this skill. Not to say that many novices haven't tried, but to my knowledge, none have succeeded so far." Tsumi frowned at the information,

"Then it is possible that there are beginners that can do this, and they are hiding their skills, right?" The man looked faintly amused,

"Yes, after all, everyone has one or two secrets within the mafia." She almost didn't hear his response; feeling relieved to know there was a possibility for her being able to change her mindscape. After a moment of thought, she berated herself for accepting the boundaries that Toruchiwa had set; she wasn't the type of person who would quietly agree to limits imposed on them by others, you don't know unless you try after all.

Deciding to leave the topic as a subject of further thought, Tsumi signaled for the man to start the lesson.

"Alright," He began, "First off, I would like to get a list of your likes and dislikes." As he said this, a spark of indigo flame appeared in front of him, slowly, the profile of a notepad came into existence. "You may wonder why I'm asking you this, but I believe it helps in bringing us closer." He then looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to reply.

She allowed herself a small sigh before consenting to his request. It was best to get these introductions over with as soon as she could. "My name is Sawada Tsunayomi, Tsumi for short. I'm currently six years old, my birthday is on October 14th, and my parents were Sawada Iemitsu, and Sawada Nana."

She knew Toruchiwa had only asked for her likes, but she felt like she needed to state her general information first. She could see his grimace, most likely from remembering what had happened to her parents.

"My favourite foods include Sushi, Home-made Bentos, Spicy Onigiri, and Sashimi. I also enjoy Curry and Miso soup if they are well made. I mostly like healthy dishes that don't make your stomach feel like it would explode after a meal, and I don't like leaving my food half finished. Some salads I like to eat would include, Garden, Greek, and potato salad."

She paused for a moment to allow the man to finish writing, but upon seeing the words appearing on the notepad without him doing anything, continued. "There is an entire list of things I like for snack and desert; favourites include Tiramisu, Gelato, petite cheesecakes, fruit salad, and mocha ice-cream. As for drinks, I like Aloe Vera flavored ones, Strawberry milk, and Green tea slightly sweetened according to my mood, I usually like my drinks cold." She paused to take a breath.

"As for dislikes, anything that is too sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or spicy. I don't like cake with too much cream, or when noodles become too soggy. I also dislike it when people act superior to others without doing much themselves; I hate people who look down on others with no solid reason. Is there anything I missed?"

He couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the way the child had said her last sentence, "Ah yes, can you tell me what sports and hobbies you like to take part in, that kind of stuff." Tsumi took a moment to catch a breath; she hadn't talked that much in one sitting in a long time.

"Hm… I prefer playing Badminton, Volleyball, and Tennis to most other sports. My hobbies include playing a variety of instruments, sketching, enjoying the weather, and singing." She elaborated on what instruments she played upon Toruchiwa's request.

"I learned how to play instruments from a kind couple I met, they gave me lodgings and food in return for my services, and even then, they never allowed me to do much. I can play the Piano at an intermediate level, and am close to mastering the Bamboo Flute as well as the Flute. I'm a beginner violinist and I just began some vocal training." She looked at her sensei after finishing her explanation. "

That's quite an impressive feat, Tsumi-chan, to already be learning how to play so many instruments. Now then, I have just one more question, and then we can get on with the discussion." Seeing his student nod in agreement, he asked, "Did you receive any previous training? I'm sorry if this brings up any harsh memories, but have your father ever trained you before?"

She should have expected to be asked a question like this, but it still made her pause all the same. She answered in a almost toneless voice, "To be honest, no, he'd never trained me before; in fact, to his last breath, he'd believed that keeping us ignorant of the Mafia was the right choice."

She had to take a moment to calm down, "I accidently learned about the underground world about two and a half years ago, when I was four. My father had left his private journal behind, and being a little curious, I had went through it. That was the day I started doubting about his job as a traffic director. One thing led to another, and I started training myself, hoping to at least be able to defend my mother against any thugs coming after my family. Of course, it didn't matter in the end…"

Toruchiwa must have realized how bitter her tone was becoming as he tried to rush the conversation along. "Well…uh, can I ask what kind of training you took part in?" She paid his attempt to change the topic no mind; she herself didn't want to gaze too much into her memories anyway.

"At first I couldn't find any type of training routine that suited me, everything I came across was geared towards the older generations. I had thought I would have no choice but to continue just training my stamina and physical strength with no goal in mind. That was until I found a rather particular book in the library one day; that was the day I found out about Parkour." Toruchiwa looked surprised,

"You mean to say that at the age of four, you started training yourself in this technique?" Not understanding what he was getting wound up about, she answered in the positive. "You could have gotten seriously hurt in the process, have you ever thought about that?" He sounded exasperated. She answered,

"No, at the time, all I could think about was how I would defend myself and my mother from people meaning us harm." She had never once thought about the consequences if she had injured herself while training.

"It's in the past now, and If I'm right, there are children born within families that are raised this way, so I'm not that special. I promise I'll take my wellbeing into account in the future, so can we move on to something else please?" The man looked as if he would refuse, but then resigned to her request,

"Alright then, I think it's your turn to ask some questions, so fire away." She had to stop to think for a minute, there were a lot of questions she had swirling inside her head; finally she decided to use the opportunity to find out more about a certain doctor.

"Okay, to start off have you ever heard of a man called "Shamal"?" She never did get to find out more about the consultant.

"Ah, I'm assuming you mean Trident Shamal?" Surprised that she actually got a lead, she repeated, "Trident?"

"Yes, Trident Shamal is a renowned assassin who uses trident mosquitoes as his weapon, hence his title. He's known as a womanizer, but that doesn't mean he's not someone to be cautious about. I heard stories of his work, where he inflicted enemies with diseases so painful that death seemed like heaven compared to suffering their effects." Tsumi couldn't help but shiver at that notion, that was not the kind, level-headed man she'd come to know. "The only other information I've found out concerning him would be; how he only treats woman, that he's a freelancer with no roots to any single Famiglia, and that the Vongola had their eyes set on him for some time."

"I've had my suspicions about being a normal doctor, but I never thought he would be a Mafioso with such a reputation…" She muttered, there was something she didn't understand though, "Who are the "Vongola"?" Toruchiwa looked confused for a moment before apprehension showed on his face,

"It would seem I've forgot to tell you, do you remember what I told you about Primo; the man who found the most powerful organization of today?" She had to think back to their previous conversations for recollection,

"Ah! The one lived four hundred years ago." The man laughed,

"haha, yes; well, he's the man who created the Vongola Famiglia, although he'd started it as a vigilante group to protect his village.

"Wow…" was all she was able to say.

"Yes, it's a nice piece of detail to think over in your head. I have an interesting tidbit of information that I feel may catch your attention, would you like to know it?" She gave the man an annoyed glare,

"You already know my answer." Toruchiwa grinned,

"I heard from my sources that there is a private sector of the Vongola that operates independently. CEDEF, was the name of the organization if I recalled correctly, would you like to know who the leader of this secret group is?" At her nod he continued, "Sawada Iemitsu, your father."

She was shocked at the information, and it showed in her wavering voice as she asked for some time to think. "Of course," was all the man said before he fell into silence; honoring her request.

Her father was the supervisor for a group that worked for the Vongola, the most influential famiglia of the Mafioso world. Surprisingly, it was hard to take in. She just couldn't imagine her idiotic, no-good of a father being a big shot of some organization. '_It seems there was a lot more to him than I thought.' _This was certainly something to think about in the future.

"Um, Sensei?" she asked, not sure if she was interrupting his thoughts. Upon seeing his questioning face, she asked, "Can you tell me more about the prominent people within the Mafia?" The man looked surprised, but as he saw her determined look, relented.

"Sure, you'll need to know who you're up against anyway." He suddenly stood up from the sitting position they'd somehow come into throughout the course of the conversation. She looked on with fascination as he created two comfortable looking chairs from his mist flames. As she moved to sit on the chair offered to her, she couldn't help but think, '_I can't wait until I can do the same things._"

Once they had both settled down, Toruchiwa started talking. "Where should I start … Right, if you're going to become a Mafioso, you'll need to know this; there's a group of enforcers that protect the law of the Mafia world. They are called the Vindice, recognizable from their dress code. Black apparel with their faces wrapped in bandages. Those who break the law are arrested and thrown into Vendicare Prison for eternity. The prison is known to be impossible to break out of, and even if you somehow manage to escape, those guys will hunt you down. They wield some kind of unknown power, allowing them to appear on the spot, as well as teleport it seems. That's pretty much all the information I was able to gather about them, you just need to take care not to break any Mafia laws and you're safe; from them at least." Finished with his explanation of the regulation enforcers, Toruchiwa gave her a moment to take in the information.

"The Vindice … huh," She muttered to herself, they sounded like an interesting group.

"Next up would be the Arcobaleno, a group made up of the world's strongest people of an era. I had to work hard to get the pieces of information I have on them. Their files are kept so confidential; you'd think they didn't exist at all. The only things I can tell you about them are that there are seven people who form the group, and that an Arcobaleno can be identified by the pacifier they all wear around their neck. The pacifiers correspond to a color of the rainbow, hence their name." '_They sound mysterious_…' She gave a nod signaling for the man to continue on with the next person.

"I think I should tell you more about the high-standing Famiglias in the current world, for information and precaution purposes." Toruchiwa said.

"I'm fine with that," Tsumi consented.

"I should begin with a quick profile of the Vongola family, with them being the most influential at this time. This famiglia is said to be worldwide the largest and most powerful organization to exist. The current leader of the Vongola would be Vongola Nono, the ninth generation leader since their founding. There is supposedly more than one hidden sector of the main Vongola foundation, like the CEDEF; and it seems the main foundation is made out of seven guardians, with one of them, Nono as the leader. One of the main reasons they are considered to be the family with the most members, would be because they accept the vows of other famiglias to be integrated under their wing. This is also a reason why most people do not bother to work against them; the Vongola have allies who wouldn't hesitate to destroy potential threats."

The man took a mouthful of air, "It may seem like a lot is known about this group, when in reality little is. The Vongola have one of the strongest database systems created, hired professional hackers have to think twice before accepting a job. I've heard rumors that the Vongola Nono is becoming old with age, he should be looking for a successor within the next decade." Tsumi's eyes widened slightly at that last tidbit of information, '_Why do I have a bad feeling about this?_'

"One of Vongola's allies that are of considerable threat would be the Chiavarone Famiglia. The position of boss has recently been inherited by the tenth generation, and it seems the family had high hopes ahead of them in the future. I would consider them a threat because of the rumors I've heard of the new leader, how absolutely loyal the members of the famiglia are to him. While the group used to be under financial trouble, it seems like the new head has managed to fix their problems quite professionally." Toruchiwa paused for a moment, "Did you get all that Tsumi-chan?" Her curiosity grew as she learned more about the Mafia, she answered with a cheerful "Yes!"

"Okay, continuing on…I think I should tell you about the Estraneo Famiglia." Tsumi couldn't help but wonder why her teacher's expression turned so much darker. "I don't understand _why_ they did it…"

She had to strain to hear his words."Tsumi, what would you do if everyone started ostracizing you for inventing a weapon they think could potentially destroy society?" His sudden question caught her off hand, but she didn't hesitate in speaking her answer.

"I would work towards furthering my research and proving them wrong."

Her response brought a chuckle out of the man, "You see Tsumi-chan most of the members of this particular family were scientists and inventors. One day they created a special bullet that was considered too dangerous to be used in society. The possession bullet allowed its users to take over the bodies of others, as well as use their personal abilities. When they started being persecuted by other families, instead of discontinuing their research, they started working furiously to create more weapons. They also started experimenting on their own children."

A gasp escaped her, the idea itself sounded horrible. "Yes, the experiments have been going on for a few years now, and unfortunately, there's not much we can do about it. I hate to admit it, but with all the specialized weapons they're making these days, people are too cautious to launch raids, afraid of the unknown effects the weapons would cause. I … think nothing is going to be done about it. I've overheard my partners whispering, that the children are going to be sacrificed."

She felt rage burn within her, while she understood which perspective the Mafioso were coming from, but she couldn't help but feel hatred directed towards the Mafia on the children's' behalf.

"So these experimentations are still going on?" She asked in a tone that conveyed none of her disgust.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." She swore to herself that she was going to do something about the situation.

"Alright, please continue, sensei," she said, suddenly wanting the conversation to end soon, she had some new things to think about.

Giving her a worried look, the man went along with her request. "Ah … How about we wrap up this conversation with one more profile?" She nodded to show her agreement,

"I don't mind."

He cleared his throat, "Well, to be honest, this Famiglia is not considered that strong or large, in fact, I think there are less than five members in the family. Many don't regard them as any threat, but I can't help but feel a little uneasy about them. The Silenzioso Famiglia, I don't have any information on them, as they leave no traces of their existence. The only thing I can tell you about them is that the leader of the Famiglia is supposed to be very powerful." She couldn't create an image of the Silenzioso family without that much information, so she filed the name away for future review.

"Is there anything else you wish to tell me sensei?" She asked to make sure she got everything before the conversation ended.

"Well actually," The man began, "I do have a question I've been meaning to ask you. What are you going to do about your education, Tsumi-chan? I mean, you have just started grade school, you don't miss interacting with your classmates?" She sighed,

'_I_ _should have known this wouldn't get past him_.' She decided to give the man her honest opinion, "Well, I don't think I would be able to miss friends I never had. I'm fairly sure I'm well above the curriculum the teachers have set anyway; I do not need to learn how to write Hiragana or Katakana, as I already know how to … Sensei you should be well aware that I am above the elementary school level." She couldn't help but feel a little irritated, being compared to her classmates.

"I see, ok than. I'm fine with you not attending school for a month, but you should reconsider not returning to your elementary school." Thinking about his student's situation the man added, "Or at least to enroll in a new one. It is important to interact with others your age."

Seeing she wouldn't be able to argue against him at the moment, she gave in temporarily.

She suddenly thought of something, "Hm, Toruchiwa-sensei, do you know why I have this hazy area within my memories?" The man looked surprised,

"A blocked memory? It could mean you've experienced something traumatic that made you seal off your recollection of that event. I don't think you should play around with that block too much, It could possibly make you relive any extreme emotions felt the moment the event occurred." She looked closer at the blackened memory, it wasn't completely closed off. A spark of recognition flashed across her eyes,

"I remember what happened, and I think this block was used to allow me to lock away certain emotions I was feeling at the time the memory took place. The event was traumatic yes, but it was more of what I did." Toruchiwa couldn't help but gasp as his student confessed to her actions.

"Because sensei, I killed a man.

* * *

**A/N**: I hope this chapter wasn't too boring... For any people wondering about the addition of OCs into this story, I do not plan to have them play a major role in the plot. My original purpose for creating this fan-fiction was so I could mess around with the characters anyway :)

**Silenzioso Famiglia: **I don't want to say much, just that they are an OC famiglia. No they will not be appearing as large obstacles in the plot.

_Here's chapter 5 ready to read! Enjoy :)_

_Thanks for staying to read this story, if there are any contradictions in the information I've given so far, please send me an angry reminder! I need those QAQ_


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Please refer to the first chapter.

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Last chapter:

_"I remember what happened, and I think this block was used to allow me to lock away certain emotions I was feeling at the time the memory took place. The event was traumatic yes, but it was more of what I did." Toruchiwa couldn't help but gasp as his student confessed to her actions._

_"Because sensei, I killed a man."_

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Chapter 6: **Memory x Ability x Training**

"Eh?" Toruchiwa soon recovered from his shock and responded seriously, "Explain please."

"I wasn't aware of the memory until a few moments ago, when my train of thought happened to bring the suppressed memory to the forefront of my mind. I guess I was experiencing some rather extreme emotions at the time, so that is why I was able to act as if the event had never happened, because I had locked the feelings I've felt within a seal." She paused for a moment, "I should remember everything in clarity once I remove the block on the memory."

"What I do not understand is what would need to have happened to force you to take a life," Said the man, "Can you tell me what happened?" She frowned,

"Not in detail, unless I release the block," She paused upon seeing her teacher's conflicted face, "Do you want me to?"

The man gave her a sheepish look, "To be honest, Tsumi-chan, the bookworm in me is very curious about that memory, but as an adult, I can't in good conscience allow you to do something so dangerous. You don't know if there is going to be aftereffects." His words of concern brought a smile to her face; it was nice to have someone fret over her once in a while.

"Don't worry sensei, I'll be fine," She replied with a grin.

"Now, don't do anything foolish, I think it is better to leave the memory as it is, it holds a traumatic event for you doesn't it?" The man continued fussing over her.

Seeing she wouldn't be getting his approval anytime soon, Tsumi decided to take matters into her own hands. '_Besides, that seal contains the emotions I had felt when I avenged Goeman-jiisan and Chihiro-baasan._'

With her mind made up, the girl fell into a meditative state. It took Toruchiwa a few minutes to realize what was going on, but his efforts in bringing his student out of her trance was for naught, as she was already too far gone. He could only hold onto the unresponsive body of the young child as he waited for her to unseal the block. At that moment, the man promised himself to help the girl reach her potential, he could see how much harder the path the girl had to follow was now, she would need as much help as she could get.

While the man was lost in thought, Tsumi continued sinking deeper and deeper into her mindscape in her search for the sealed memory. '_It shouldn't be that much farther now_,' and sure enough, she could soon make out a blackened cube floating in the distance. As she got closer to the memory, she could see that besides the shaded taint encasing it, there was also a single lock seemingly chained to the cube.

The first thing she did upon arriving at the cube was touch it, an action she would do well to remember not to repeat in the future. As her fingers came in contact with the blackened memory, Tsumi felt pain beyond what she'd felt before. White hot agony crept up her fingertips, and she screamed in horror. Just when she was thinking to end it all, the feeling suddenly subsided, leaving her wondering if the last few seconds had been all but a dream.

She took in some calming breaths, trying to analyze the situation she'd gotten herself into. Cautiously, she closed in on the unchanged cube once again, this time looking for clues on what had happened before. There didn't seem to be any visible defense mechanisms, but then again, it was her mindscape, so regular logic couldn't quite help her here.

'_What if…_' She didn't know exactly what incited her to, but she felt as if she would find her answers if she touched the lock. She must have been an idiot, because just like that, she allowed herself to once again reach towards the tainted cube. This time, as she felt her fingers touch the cold, metal surface of the lock, no semblance of pain came**. **Feeling relieved, Tsumi continued on to study the lock. You couldn't exactly call it a padlock, as there were no keyholes to be seen, it was as if the crafter had simply forgotten to drill it in.

She frowned, now what was she supposed to do? Suddenly she heard an enticing voice give her a command, and she wanted nothing else but to do the things it said. Her fingers were almost touching the darkened areas of the memory again when she paused in her action. Why was she doing this? The tempting voice appeared again, pleading with her, begging for her to touch the darkness. Her mind suddenly became blank, and all she could think about was fulfilling the commands of that alluring voice.

That's right, once she touched the tainted cube everything would be alright, nothing else mattered.

'_What about my promises?_' She felt her mind clear slightly, what was happening? The enticing voice returned, but this time sounding much more desperate; too sweet… too fake.

"No!" She shouted, and suddenly she could think again. Just to be sure she waited for a minute, but the voice didn't come back; Tsumi couldn't help but exhale a breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding. That must have been another security measure surrounding the cube.

With the possibility of there being more traps enclosing the memory, she gently placed her fingers on the closed lock once again; ready to draw them back at a moment's notice if needed. Now what was she supposed to do next, '_try to think outside the box Tsumi_'

She thought to herself. She suddenly flinched as she heard a voice around her once again. Her eyes widened as she realized the difference between this voice and the other one. It seemed like her intuition was once again helping her out. Following the suggestions, she placed the palm of her hands together and positioned them in front of the solid lock. She then concentrated on willing the seal to open, focusing on trying to convey her feelings of acceptance.

Minutes passed with no change occurring, and Tsumi was beginning to think she'd done something wrong when she suddenly saw a crack appear on the surface of the cube. She quickly rubbed her eyes before looking at the sight in front of her. Glowing lights were beginning to shine through the fractures that were spreading all over the memory, and before she knew it the black encasing the cube had disappeared, leaving the girl with a floating ball of memory in front of her. The untainted version of her memory brought a smile to her face; she finally got the seal off. Now all that was left was to take a small trip to the past.

She grimaced and gave herself some time to rest, mentally preparing herself for what was to come. Tsumi knew how strained she was feeling, but she was so close, and it would make things easier for the future. She could take her time to recover energy after this one last obstacle. So, after taking one last breath, Tsumi plunged herself right into the memory.

Toruchiwa prided himself in being a man who was in control of his emotions, an ability that saved his life countless times in his days as a Mafioso. So it wasn't surprising for him to feel increasingly confused as he spent a period of time with the girl under his temporary custody.

He hadn't remembered feeling such a variety of clashing emotions since, well ever. He'd certainly been pleasantly surprised on his first meeting with the young child. There weren't many who would dare to meet his eyes for such a long period of time. He'd known there was something special about the child even before he found out her potential to wield flames. He'd noticed how easily she seemed take things in stride and had secretly tested her to satisfy his curiosity. He'd almost failed to hide his surprise when the child had responded to the words he'd written. It had been on a mere whim for him to write in Kanji, but he soon found out how much more educated the girl was compared to her peers.

She continued to surprise him, even when he thought he'd heard it all, she would go and spring something else on him. The next few weeks would be a delightful change to his life, and it would be a wonderful way to leave the world. If this was the heavens way of helping him accept his fate, he was gladly going to take it.

Toruchiwa couldn't help but ponder on how his student had grown up; something had to have happened for her to cultivate such a mature mentality. The more he thought about his student, the more he realized how much he'd come to care for her. She'd somehow became the child he'd never had, in such a short time she had managed to warm her way to the short list of people he genuinely cared for. That was why, when the unresponsive body in his arms had suddenly tensed up and screamed he'd been at a loss at what to do. Thankfully the cry hadn't lasted that long and his student had returned to her passive state, but in his mind he could still hear the echoing screams of his pupil, looping over and over.

It was at that point when the man realized he had no idea when the girl would come to, or if she ever would. The very prospect of the thought made his stomach feel like lead. There was no way his pupil was dying that soon, she was much stronger than that; and those were the words he kept repeating to himself, as he waited in the silence for his student to awaken.

It was a startled Toruchiwa that snapped out of his trance. Feeling quite disoriented he could only stare into space, his eyes not seeing. It took some time for him to organize his thoughts, but when he did, he immediately turned his attention to the body in his arms. For a moment, he'd thought he was hallucinating,

"T-Tsumi-chan?" When he received a weak smile and nod from said person, he wasted no time in embracing the child with all he had. "You scared me to half to death," He muttered, relishing in the knowledge of a conscious student. He froze as he felt something brush against his face, but relaxed into the touch as he realized his student was merely trying to comfort him. "Don't do anything like that again, I told you, didn't I? You could've gotten hurt!" His voice cracked slightly towards the end.

"I'm sorry…sensei… It just felt like something I had to do." Tsumi replied, feeling guilty for making her teacher worry so much.

"You know… you are going to become the death of your friends someday," The man teased, trying to lighten the mood. She laughed,

"Maybe sensei, although that would be a blessing in itself, as I can't relate well to kids my age at all," She left her statement hanging, not feeling like saying more.

"Really, I don't… well, let's leave that conversation for another time," Toruchiwa stopped what he was going to say midway, recognizing it to be a topic the girl didn't want to venture into at the moment. "So, tell me you didn't go through all that trouble only to make no progress," He said, because he was not going to allow her another chance to try.

"Hehe, don't worry sensei, I managed to unseal the block," Tsumi replied, she'd noticed her mind feeling lighter after regaining access to the memory. "Right," She suddenly said, "I can tell you the name of the man I killed now."

Toruchiwa raised an eyebrow in question; he pulled out of the hug and looked his student in the eyes. "Who was it?" Why did he have such a bad feeling about this?

"Mitsushi Ayuke," Came Tsumi's innocent response.

Yes, his student will always continue to surprise him, the man thought before collapsing in a dead faint.

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xXXx

Upon being awakened a few minutes later by a worried Tsumi, Toruchiwa's first response was to sheepishly rub the back of his neck, "Well, who knew it was possible to faint in a mindscape." His student just looked blankly at him. "You learn something new every day," seeing the girls continued silence the man coughed, "Let's continue from where we left off, shall we?"

"Right," He cleared his throat, "Can I ask you what the heck you were thinking, confronting such a dangerous fugitive?" The man was smiling, but his anger could be seen through the stiffness of the smile, as well as the occasional twitches of his eyebrows. Tsumi felt a small hint of aggravation; he pretty much made out her actions to be one of a foolish youth.

"I'll have you know, sensei," She started in a warning tone, "I think I had a significant enough reason for what I did." More concerned than incensed, he asked the child what made her resort to such a thing; it was hard to fathom that a child would be willing to cross the path of an escaped convict after all.

Thinking about it brought back harsh memories, but she could tell her teacher was sincerely curious. "Do you remember what I told you about the couple who took me in?" The man thought for a moment before nodding,

"The ones that taught you how to play all those instruments right?" His response made her smile,

"Yes, the Ichiros… They had decided to take me out one day, as a treat." Her eyes glassed over, not focusing on anything as she recalled the events of that day. "The clearing they brought me to, was absolutely amazing; I can't describe it with words." At some point her hands had clenched into firm fists. "Everything was going so well, even though I knew I couldn't stay with them forever," Her breath hitched in her throat, "Things soon spiraled into chaos. I still don't understand why things had to happen the way they did…" She let out a silent sob, her small frame trembling a little.

Witnessing how badly recounting the events was affecting his student, Toruchiwa immediately sought to calm her.

"Tsumi-chan, calm down; you can stop right there, you don't need to go on," He muttered soothing words as he rubbed circles into the child's back. He was surprised when he felt the girl shake her head ever so slightly; and even more so when he heard her speak out.

"No… I-I need to do this," She brought herself out of the man's grip and looked him in the eye. With a faint smile gripped with emotion she spoke, "This is also a part of my past that I need to confront." He understood what she needed to do, although it crushed his heart in seeing his student under such emotional pain. In the end, he just wrapped his arms around the girl once again, determined to help her get through this.

She didn't try to break out of her teacher's hold, relishing in the safety and care she felt from the gesture. She spoke in a steady voice, nothing suggesting she'd nearly broken down just moments ago.

"He suddenly appeared, from nowhere. Soon all I heard were gunshots and screaming." There was a moment of silence, before she continued, "I was the one yelling, because Jii-san and Obaa-san didn't have time to realize what was happening… They were killed just seconds into the confrontation." Her expression became one of hurt, and she was thankful that her teacher didn't see it; he was already too worried about her as it was.

"I…don't really remember what happened after that, only that in less than a minute," She felt a lone tear trickle down her cheek, "I killed the man," she finished in a voice just above a whisper.

Sensing his student was near the end of her restraint, Toruchiwa tightened his grip on the girl, hoping she would get the message that she wasn't alone.

After what seemed like an hour later, the man released his hold on the child, checking to see if she had fallen asleep. He was surprised to see a conscious girl, weary, but not sleeping. Just as he was about to suggest they wrap up their conversation for the day, he heard his student whisper out a sentence.

"Thank you…" embarrassed but happy all the same with her appreciation, the man smiled and gave an acknowledging nod. He then spoke in a subdued voice, thinking it to be enough revolutions for the day,

"Tsumi-chan, why don't we finish our talk here for now? I think we have enough time to dig up a late dinner before we retire for the night."

After receiving his student's approval, the two left her mindscape and awakened back into reality. Physically able but mentally exhausted, Tsumi made her way to the kitchen sporting a mild migraine. Even with everything that transpired with the last few hours, she still wanted to be of some help to the older man. '_Besides, I may be able to further improve my culinary skills_,' she was never one to miss an opportunity to learn.

She entered the kitchen to the sight of madness. Quickly rubbing her eyes, the girl could only stare at the scene of utter chaos in front of her. The only thought that came to mind was, '_I chose a maniac to be my teacher._'

The man had on this wide grin as he chopped the vegetables, one after another, as if in a frenzy. Sometimes he would even fling them into the air, and make quick slicing motions so that when the food fell back into the bowl, they would be in pieces. She continued standing there, unable to move. Now that she thought about it, what the man was doing resembled an art, the swift, precise movements of the blade, the complete absorbance in his task, the confidence. It was hard to fathom that the man standing in front of her was merely chopping vegetables; the few times her teacher's shoulders would shake as if he was silently laughing didn't help.

She nervously cleared her throat, feeling a little oppressed by the aura surrounding the man. If he'd heard her, he made no notion of it; she settled for waiting for her teacher to finish his job.

The next few minutes passed in this way, with Tsumi quietly observing the man. Somewhere in the midst of watching his unique cooking method, a sudden question came to mind; how did he look like when he made her sandwich? It seemed like you really couldn't judge a book by its cover, who knew such a method of preparing rations could create edible food. Sure enough, not ten minutes later, she was faced with the sight of a perfectly made bowl of soup.

The menacing aura that had surrounded her teacher not moments ago was gone. He was sitting across from her, a knowing look on his face. The man gestured for her to eat with a smile, one that she returned shyly. She blew the soup to cool it down a little before taking a sip. Her smile widened as she savored the broth. It wasn't often that such a delicious soup could be made within a short amount of time. "You make a mean vegetable soup sensei," She complimented the man, making him scratch his neck in embarrassment.

After enjoying her dinner, Tsumi helped the man clean up; washing the dishes and placing them on the drying rack. After finding that there was nothing else needed to do, she soon bid her teacher goodnight, and climbed the stairs to her room.

Deciding to take a quick shower before retiring to bed, she brought her daily essentials with her to the bathroom. She had nearly slipped and injured herself in the shower when a thought came to her. She could ask her teacher about the mysterious powers she'd found herself to have. She would bring the topic up tomorrow, Tsumi decided, and with that in mind, the girl quickly dried herself off and went on with her nightly routine.

Dressing herself in light orange pajamas that her sensei had thoughtfully provided for her, Tsumi quickly crossed the room and leaped onto her soft bed. She sighed contently, enjoying the comfort of the covers. The girl thought back to the abundance of new information she'd learned from her afternoon conversation with her teacher. She wouldn't deny finding the different Mafioso families interesting; she always had a keen fascination with these sorts of things.

She'd found out that Shamal was a Mafioso, a pretty famous one at that. It made her think of how she would react to him, if they ever crossed paths again. Then she'd learned of the existence of the Vongola, one of the strongest families in the current underworld. A family her father had ties to, a fact she would keep in mind for future references. There was the Mafioso version of the police; the Vindice. She wasn't afraid of them at the moment, but supposed it would be smart not to anger them. Then came the Arcobaleno , the Chiavarone, the Estraneo, and the Silenzioso famiglie.

Before she knew it, she was dozing off, and it was only the thought of not wanting to get sick that made her crawl under the covers. She was out within minutes.

Tsumi stifled a yawn with her hand, '_A good night's rest really does wonders for you._' After going through her morning stretches she moved to the side of the bed, her feet dangling off the ground. She gently slipped onto her soft slippers and went through another set of stretches meant for flexibility. Idly she wondered if she should take up yoga, it seemed to be a good way to work on her patience. Checking the time –it was a quarter to eight- she quickly grabbed her bag of bathroom essentials and went to the washroom.

After cleaning and dressing herself for the day, it was a fully awake Tsumi that descended the stairs that morning. She stopped herself from entering the kitchen as a fleeting thought crossed her mind; what if her teacher was currently preparing breakfast? Although she admitted to being awed by his cooking style, it wasn't something she wanted to be a part of first thing in the morning. With that in mind, Tsumi cautiously peered into the kitchen.

She let out a sigh of relief as she saw that the man had already made breakfast. She slowly entered the room, announcing her arrival with a greeting to her teacher. Having acknowledged her greeting with a nod, and after putting down the newspaper he'd been reading, the man stood up and grabbed a tray from the counter before setting it down in front of her. Seeing the plates that contained her breakfast, Tsumi thanked the man before she happily began eating the food. Idly noting that her teacher had already ate and was now immersed in reading the newspaper once again.

As she ate her breakfast, pleasantly noticing it to be the traditional Japanese style, the girl thought of how she would bring up her special abilities. It might be just her luck and she would end up with something unheard of, but she was really curious about further improving her understanding of her powers. She would bring up the topic in her next training session.

After eating her meal and cleaning up after herself, she sat back down on the dining table, awaiting instructions for the day. Luckily she didn't have to wait for long as her teacher looked to have finished his paper. Sure enough, not a minute later, she was following the man out of the kitchen at his signal. He lead her up the staircase and back into her room, guessing that he wanted another conversation, she immediately took her place across the coffee table upon reaching the room.

They were once again within the young girl's mindscape a few minutes later. She spoke up, not being able to wait another second, "Ne sensei, are we doing actual training today?" Her question was met with the answering chuckle of the man,

"Yes, Tsumi-chan, we are." His reply brought an excited grin to her face; she couldn't wait to get started. Her smile soon turned to a frown as the man added a lingering "But" after his sentence.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Don't worry, I just have a question about the conversation we had last night." She smiled again,

"Sure, but make it fast, I'm really excited to finally start my training!"

Laughing at his student's enthusiasm the man jokingly raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Alright, alright; it'll be quick I promise!" He grinned before asking, "It concerns what happened after Mitsushi Ayake killed your guardians," He shot her an apologetic look, "I remember you said you killed the man…"He winced at how bluntly he put it, "Do you know how you managed to deal him so much damage in such a short time frame?"

Her eyes dimmed as her teacher's question made her recall what had happened. She was surprised to note that it didn't hurt as much anymore, thinking of how her surrogate grandparents had died. Tsumi wasn't sure if her hatred towards the murderer would ever fully dissipate, but thinking about how she'd killed him, she suddenly felt quite lost.

"I'm not really sure?" It felt like she was asking him the question, "The only thing I remember was feeling immense anger, and then before I realized it… there was a dead body in front of me." She finished in a monotone, as she thought, it was hard to comprehend that she had taken a life; no matter who she'd killed she still killed someone.

"Is that so," was the man's confused reply, "So you really remember nothing?" She nodded,

"Unfortunately, All I can recall from that moment was extreme emotion and the colors orange and red." She saw her teacher give a disappointed sigh before he thanked her, making her curious on what he had been looking for. She suddenly remembered her idea from last night and, thinking now was a good a time as any, proceeded to voice her query to the man.

"Sensei, may I ask you a question?" After receiving a go ahead from her teacher she continued, "Well, I wanted to ask for your thoughts on this particular ability I have." She smiled a little, after seeing that she now had the man's renewed attention. "You see… I have this weird affinity to empathize, in a way, with animals."

"May I ask what you mean?" Tsumi inwardly giggled, seeing some similarities between the two of them, with their naturally curious natures.

"I'm not sure how to explain what my power does exactly; it's actually more of an extreme connection with the animals I come across," She paused for a second, trying to come up with a scenario to compare her power to. "Think of this way, I'm able to understand what animals want, even though they don't speak in our tongue."

After a moment of thought, the man nodded, "I can visualize your ability somewhat." Tsumi continued on supplying the extent of the things she could do.

"One of the more weird things I am able to do would be sending out a..." She had trouble finding out the right word,"…signal of some sort to animals near my location. I can't control what species get my notice, but they do come to me when I call them. I just realized some time ago, that the animals are also willing to protect me from people with evil intent."

Her teacher looked at her with interest as she spoke of the signals. "That's…quite an interesting ability you have there, Tsumi-chan." He paused for a moment, "I'm sorry to say that I've never heard of this particular talent before, not once in my entire life." Seeing his student's slightly crestfallen expression, he hastened to add more, "Although there was a word that came to mind when you were describing your power to me." He chuckled at the girl's complete turnaround of expressions, "Harmony; that was the word."

"Harmony…" She repeated, "As in, balance and unity, that kind of meaning?" The man nodded to show his agreement. "That's interesting," Tsumi voiced her thoughts, not knowing what else to say.

"Indeed," She heard her teacher mutter.

Having no more questions left at the moment, she thanked the man. Toruchiwa merely smiled and said, "Now that we cleared up some things, how about we start off your training?"

Her eyes lit up at the prospect, "Yes please!"

They left her mindscape a few minutes later, her sensei having briefed her on what was going to be happening after they left. It seemed he had used the information he'd gotten on her from their most recent conversations and revised his training regime. Truthfully, she couldn't wait to start training, almost skipping her way down the stairs towards the backyard, and if the man's bemused expression was any indication, he had clearly noticed.

She wasn't ignorant enough to believe that she would still be able to keep up with her exercise schedule from the days when she was continuously training. Going a long period of time without working out had its consequences. Considering the last few months, she wouldn't be surprised if her stamina and endurance had decreased by half.

The thought of becoming weaker scared her, which was not surprising, taking into account all the hard work she had invested in her training.

She let out a depressed sigh as she made her way across the pebbled trail of the garden; it was going to be a strenuous and painful path to get back into shape.

Waiting for the older man to come out of the house Tsumi swung back and forth on garden bench. Her expression turned more serene as she relaxed into the gentle swinging motion of the seat. Spending time quietly resting really helped to calm her down, still, nothing beat singing or creating music.

She smiled as she sensed her teacher sit down beside her. They sat in silence for a moment before she saw it fit to start the conversation.

"How are we going to begin my training sensei?"

Her attention quickly shifted to the piece of paper the man suddenly held up. After reading through what she perceived to be her edited training regime, Tsumi couldn't help but stare at her teacher in disbelief.

"T-Toru-sensei… Is this really what you want me to do?" She needed to make sure he wasn't joking, even if she had not been keeping up with her exercises; this was underestimating her too much.

After seeing the man rigorously nod his head, Tsumi put on a pout. "But, a thirty second jog and just one set of four pushups and sit-ups? I know I'm young and I haven't been working out lately… Even so don't you think I can do more than this, taking in consideration my experience in Parkour?"

She knew the man wasn't ignorant, so there must be something going on. Determining it to be tiresome to speculate so much into her teacher's motivations, the girl just gave a sigh.

"Fine, I'll show you what I can do," maybe after seeing her proficiency the man would rethink his schedule.

So she went through the routine Toruchiwa had set for her; except she had opted to sprint instead of jog for 30 seconds. After her short workout, she returned to the man, a determined look on her face. He should see now that she was above this level of exercise.

She was surprised and more than a little put out when she was motioned to repeat the routine. Doing what was asked of her for the second time, she turned to face her teacher once again. When she saw that he wasn't going to be doing anything soon, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Toru-sensei, I think I should go with a harder workout; I believe what you have for me is below what I am capable of." There, she'd went and said it, rather bluntly too. She wouldn't normally speak to someone in such a manner, after all she was respectful to her elders- but her drive to improve as quickly as possible led her feeling a little frustrated with such an easy lesson.

That was why she couldn't help but sulk a little when the man didn't seem to budge on his decision, once again motioning for her to carry on with the repeats of her exercise.

Tsumi continued to pout for a few seconds afterwards when her eyes suddenly widened as she had an idea. She allowed herself a small smirk, of course, if she did that than he would have to give in; she had once been told by Shamal that it was impossible to refuse her when she used that method.

She could only hope that this last resort of hers worked, or else if she failed, she would be embarrassed and still be stuck with the pitiful excuse of a workout.

"Ne sensei…" Tsumi waited until she had her teacher's full attention. Seeing the man look at her curiously, she immediately donned her Puppy Eyed look, or as Shamal had dubbed it, her "Love-me-I'm-a-kicked-puppy expression."

She faked some sniffles before asking her request. "Please sensei? I promise I won't slack off or do anything like that" She turned her watering eyes on full blast, "I-I just want to get stronger…" There was no way he would refuse her now!

What followed was a moment of silence; Tsumi was beginning to feel rather self-conscience as she continued to feel her teacher's gaze upon her. She was beginning to think about just giving up when the man finally made to break the discomforting atmosphere.

After scribbling down what seemed to be some corrections to his notes, he passed to her the regime. She looked at it in anticipation; did he finally give her an exercise layout fit for someone of her level?

Unfortunately, her teacher didn't think so. He did make some alterations to the regime, but the changes he'd made were so small that it was still pretty much the same. He basically added 15 seconds to her jog, and made her required to do sets of five push-ups and sit-ups instead of four.

She almost pouted, sighing inwardly at the minimal additions. There was one new note near the bottom of the page though. It said she was expected to do these sets 20 times in a row every day. It made some sense to her now; Toruchiwa was accessing her so he would know how to continue on. _'Then again, couldn't he have just given me a skill assessment test?_' It was hard to know what went on inside his head.

It was only the third day since she met Toruchiwa, and he'd already taught her so much during that span of time. She supposed she could endure the small warm-up regime for another few days.

Finished with her thinking, Tsumi proceeded to go through the remaining 18 repetitions of the workout she had left to do.

It was now the eighth day since she'd been shipped to Matera. Honestly to Tsumi the past few days had felt like they went by in a blur. You would think it would seem the exact opposite, having to perform such rudimentary tasks every day. In actuality, she underestimated the regime, the first three or so repetitions were easy enough; it was the last 15 sets that gave her difficulties.

She had berated herself for not thinking about how fatigue could build up, only looking at the sets individually. They seemed simple by themselves, but when done one after another, it really started to take its toll on your body.

She remembered the first day she'd been given the challenge; she was only able to finish up to seven repetitions of the regime before succumbing to her exhaustion; something that had really embarrassed her at the time.

That same night, in her mindscape, Toruchiwa had gone on to reprimand her for expecting so much on the first attempt. He'd told her she'd done very well, considering how long she had went without exercising regularly. It was also pointed out that what she'd done wasn't something a regular child could do. She'd protested to that comment as she never considered herself a normal kid; her teacher had rolled his eyes at her statement and said that she could be compared to a physically active middle school student.

In the past five days she'd managed to work her way up to 15 repetitions, something she was secretly quite proud of. She had to really push herself in order to improve her endurance and stamina, which were almost back to the level she was used to, much to her delight.

They were currently in the kitchen, having lunch as it was already one O'clock in the afternoon.

Tsumi had gotten used to the silence that followed their meals; she'd taken to using the companionable calmness that followed each mealtime as a time to review everything that had happened each day.

She found the time put aside for these contemplations relaxing and enlightening, they allowed her to think up further questions she could ask her teacher about.

She had been going over all the telepathic and mindscape conversations she had with the man, when suddenly a question made its way across the forefront of her mind. Now that she thought about it, it was a pretty good question, so she decided to voice it to her teacher.

"Toru-sensei?" she waited until she got his attention, "You know how we sometimes have conversations in my mindscape, while other times you talk to me through telepathy?" It somehow just didn't make sense to her.

Seeing the man give a nod in answer she continued, "I was thinking, why didn't we just communicate using telepathy only? Wouldn't it be inconvenient to enter the mindscape sometimes?" She saw him give her an amused smile before replying telepathically.

"Because these conversations take their toll, I get mentally tired talking too much like this." She guessed she got that, there was still inconvenience of going into mindscape mode though.

"So how do people communicate in fights than?" This earned her a fond look from the man.

"Tsumi-chan, you seemed to have forgotten that there are few people out there who can even communicate the way we do." That was true, only people who had the mist flame attribute could do this, and even than they had to activate their potential.

"I get it sensei," There was one more thing, "I just thought of it, but am I able to initiate a telepathic conversation with you? I just realized that I've always been responding to you out loud." Her question seemed to put the man into a state of thinking, a few seconds passed before he replied.

"I don't think you can at the moment. I tried when I just found out about it years ago, but it didn't work. It comes with experience I guess." She noticed how strained the man looked, guessing it to be the mental exhaustion from the conversation, she jumped in,

"Okay sensei, thanks for answering my questions, I'm going to finish some reading in my room." The man nodded, and after picking up the dishes and putting those in the washer Tsumi made her way upstairs.

Telepathy was definitely something that interested her, and she would be damned if she didn't find a way to learn how it worked.

Another five days passed, and Tsumi could proudly say that she could now manage the full 20 repetitions of her regime, if only barely. It was quite the accomplishment really, if you multiplied 45 seconds of jogging by twenty, you would get a fifteen minute jog. So that meant that first day when she'd only been able to finish seven repetitions, she had actually jogged for about five minutes, which was not bad for a child.

She found out that as you continued on in the workout, it wasn't the jogging that became draining; it was the push-ups. Twenty sets of five push-ups and sit-ups meant she had to do 100 push-ups and sit-ups in total, a mind-blowing amount.

Although the past few days had felt absolutely torturous, it was thanks to her perseverance that she was now more active and healthier than ever.

It was now July the 30th, and she had only realized last night that summer vacation had already started in Japan nine days ago. That'd meant she hadn't needed to return to school anyway. Although her education was also something she needed to think about.

It wasn't like she needed to attend, because in actuality she was above the curriculum level. It was the questions that most likely were raised when she stopped attending school since that night eight or so months ago. To her teachers, it probably seemed like she'd been kidnapped. Then again no one really noticed her, so it was possible they'd forgotten her altogether.

_'Nah, even they cannot be that dense_.' She was doing fine with her current lifestyle, she was learning that was for sure, and she was socializing, something she hadn't done much in her time at school.

When the fact that she was in Matera, Italy and not Namimori, Japan sank in; Tsumi supposed she'd went into a state of disbelief. Although her shock quickly wore off, her analytical mind having immediately set in, thinking of all the possible factors that would affect her.

One of the first problems that'd quickly come up, was the language barrier. Somehow she'd forgotten that most civilians in Matera would speak Italian, and not Japanese. Her first time exploring the city had almost ended in disaster, and she had only been able to find her way back home by making gestures. That same night had been what would be her first session of learning Italian, she'd felt so helpless not being able to communicate her desires that she wanted to make sure the same situation wouldn't happen again.

Italian had not been an easy language for her to learn, and over the past week she'd only just began getting over the hurdle of the different sounds the words made. Luckily Toruchiwa had taken the time to purchase a Japanese-to-Italian tourist phrase book for her, and she'd taken to reading it for 30 minutes every day before bed.

She always volunteered to be the one to shop for groceries, something she actually enjoyed doing. This way she was able to explore the area around her –as goodness knows how fascinating Matera was- and talk with the local people. Of course, the majority of citizens around here spoke Italian and thus she couldn't understand them, but there were some people here and there who had taken to learning foreign languages because of the amount of tourists that often visited. She'd spend a lot of time with those people.

There were certainly a lot of things that needed to be done, and many more things to get used to, but Tsumi was sure she would get through any obstacles that stood in her way.

She knew now that while she may not have many friends at the moment, there were many opportunities in the future where she may meet others. It was her dream to form a group of friends so close that they would seem like one huge family. She wanted to be able to smile with them and spend her days growing with them.

Maybe it was all a hopeful delusion, but it was a dream that kept her going.

* * *

**A/N**: My appreciation goes to all that continued to follow the progress of this story, this chapter marks the end of the "Childhood Arc" (or rather childhood part of Tsumi's story.) I hope to see you all next time!

_Thanks for reading this latest revised chapter, as always please leave some feedback if you find anything irking you about my story!_  
_Have a wonderful day!_


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Please refer to the first chapter

* * *

Last Chapter:

_She knew now that while she may not have many friends at the moment, there were many opportunities in the future where she may meet others. It was her dream to form a group of friends so close that they would seem like one huge family. She wanted to be able to smile with them and stand up for them._

_Maybe it was all a hopeful delusion, but it was a dream that kept her going._

* * *

Chapter 7: **Prelude to Madness**

Had it really been six years since then?

It was still hard to take in at times, the fact that her mentor was not with the living any longer. Even now it still felt as if he was walking alongside her, assisting her with that warm demeanor of his. After all these years, she still found it hard to think back to his memory without feeling any impact on her emotions. She missed him; the man who'd became an uncle figure to her.

The month they'd spent together had been far too short. She remembered being devastated for days; once again, someone she'd come to care for had been ripped from her grasp.

She'd been surprised and hesitant when she found out that the man had named her the sole benefactor to his will. She had been reluctant to accept his fortune, but after hearing his final words to her through his will, she gave in; his reasoning from his will being that she "needed to learn to live her life to the fullest and to take care of her wellbeing". She admitted to having a small breakdown after hearing that part of the will.

She was given ownership of Toruchiwa's house in Matera; exactly how considering her position as a child she wasn't sure, but it probably had something to do with some form of manipulation from the man's loyal friends. She'd met them at the private funeral; only a handful of people had attended, but it was easy to see that they had all been close to her teacher.

Surprisingly, the rest of his money had not been split among the people gathered, as the man had made earlier plans to donate the fortune to various orphanages across Italy.

Years have passed since the day of the reading. Tsumi had remained in the man's house, choosing to embrace the memories made under the roof rather than escaping from the constant tinges of grief.

At first it had been very painful; often she would turn a corridor and see remnants of the man's existence. It got slightly better as time passed.

There were periods of time over the six or so years when she would get overwhelmed by particularly tender memories. She'd taken to travelling the world when times got too rough. It served as a stress reliever, as well as opportunities to explore her surroundings.

She'd acquired a somewhat fake passport and identification card a year after Toruchiwa's funeral; one of the man's acquaintances had experience in the field of forging.

Now here she was, relaxing on the rooftop of Namimori Middle School thinking of the past.

After spending around four years in Italy and other parts of the world, it was two years ago that she had decided to return to Japan, to set up some sort of foundation for her back-story.

Tsumi had decided long ago that she would not run from what she must do, which meant she had to return to Namimori someday, after receiving as much instruction and training as her resources allowed.

It was a laughable concept that the assassins from that night would simply have given up the chase and forgotten about her existence. From her teacher's intelligence network, Tsumi had received information on sightings of men asking around for a young boy. It was more likely than not that she was the person they were looking for, and honestly, Tsumi wanted to end this chase sooner rather than later; it would give her some form of closure, and allow her to move on with her life without the constant threat of hiding anymore.

She'd heard from some of her mentor's contacts that there were some influential Mafioso groups located around the Namimori area, so maybe the inevitable confrontation would be in the near future. In the beginning, Tsumi had wondered why the man's friends didn't just cut all ties they had with her after the reading of the will, but as she observed them over the years, it seemed that they've decided to stay by her side.

The reason she returned to Namimori so early, rather than transfer in when the middle school years began was to create some sort of background for herself. After all, it would be strange if a transfer student suddenly popped up and started causing ruckus around town.

It had been decided with a majority vote that she would be posing as a male when she returned to Namimori. Really, Tsumi had laughed then (and was still amused even to this day) on the protectiveness of her teacher's family. They were a rowdy bunch, but good people all the same. She still remembered her surprise upon seeing the small gathering of men at the man's funeral and inheritance reading, he had never gotten around at telling her of them.

During the two years she had been back in Namimori, she'd cultivated some sort of façade to hide behind. It was the persona she used in her days at school, and basically every time she was around the general public. She had wanted some freedom to do what she wanted, so she decided to project the image of a somewhat clumsy preteen boy. The mask also came with the advantage of others having basically no expectations of her.

One of the downsides to playing the no-good student card was that you often got showered with duties pushed upon you by lazy classmates. Tsumi guessed she'd done a decent job of projecting her image though, as by the end of her first year back in Namimori, she'd already gotten a new nickname; Dame-Tsuna.

She was fine with the low expectations others had of her, but the condescending looks her classmates gave her were constantly getting on her nerves.

She'd hoped that with the Transaction between elementary and middle schools, the curriculum being taught would at least become a few levels higher, after all, it would make her days in school more interesting if she had something new to learn. Unfortunately, it seemed the first quarter of freshman year in Namimori Middle school was focused on reviewing past topics, as in everything that had been taught in the last few years of elementary school. Well, it wasn't like anything taught at the middle school level would interest her anyway; she'd covered the topics taught here years ago.

Tsumi was currently skipping science class, and while many would deem it to be one of the more important periods in school, the class only served to tire her. It wasn't the actual subject that was boring her, no, she loved science. Rather, it was the person teaching the subject that was getting on her nerves.

Dohachiro Nezu, a strict adult who was getting on with his years. He was the sole science teacher teaching her grade level at Namimori Middle. She guessed it might've been harsh of her to be so biased towards the man, as he seemed to be passionate about his job. He just really irritated her with his sharp words against students who struggled in his class. Maybe he was trying to motivate them, but constantly belittling hardworking students was not the way to do it.

Her feelings of resentment seemed to be mutually shared by the man. While she wasn't the only student in his class that was on the verge of failing, he treated her as if it was so. Well, she guessed it was a good thing that he directed the majority of his nasty comments at her; she could at least take it better than the other students in the class.

She would have dozed off in her thoughts if it wasn't for a sudden disruption in her awareness of the immediate area. Her body immediately tensed muscles ready to move at a moment's notice from years of training. It took some will to gather enough self control, so she could stop herself from immediately reacting to the new presence; she was after all still portraying the boy-who-couldn't-properly-kick-a-ball-to-save-his- life.

'_Who was it?_' Any person who managed to get this close without her noticing had to be good; she wasn't being conceited, she knew how strong she was compared to the average civilian.

She waited for the intruder to make the first move, after all "Dame-Tsuna" couldn't possibly know enough to detect others.

It seemed that the person either wanted to observe her, or they preferred waiting for the opportune moment to strike as there was no action taken to announce their arrival. While there was the high possibility that the intruder was merely a student, and not an assassin sent to eliminate her (and she had her share of those over the years), she just couldn't relax until she found out who the potential threat was. Tsumi wouldn't be able to defend herself too much, as while she was currently on a deserted rooftop there was also the matter of being in a school to take into consideration, and she was certain she would cause some destruction of her surroundings should she take action.

Fortunately, about a few minutes later, the intruder seemed to finally decide to make their presence known.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi" The now identified person spoke out.

She mentally groaned, 'Of_ all the possible people, why did it have to be him?_' It wasn't that she hated the guy, but she often noticed his eyes observing her over various times in school, and that kind of freaked her out.

'_Don't tell me he's taken an interest in me._' Resigning to her fate, she pushed herself to a sitting position and turned to face the person.

"H-Hibari-san! W-What are you d-doing here?" She stuttered out through her persona. The said person went silent for another minute, '_Oh kami, I can practically feel the glare he's directing at me._'

"Do I need a reason to visit this place?" She quickly formatted the response expected of her,

"No, of c-course not!" she continued her answer in her head, '_We all know you're the head of the disciplinary committee, and you can do whatever you please, you've made it quite clear to the entire school by now._'

"Students are not permitted access to the school's roof during lesson periods." She had a feeling she wouldn't like what would come next. "You should not be wondering outside your classroom without a hall pass. Are you practicing truancy? She did not like the anticipating smirk that appeared on his face as he spoke his last sentence.

"Um, n-no, you see, uh, I was just, um-"Her stumbled excuses were interrupted by his next words.

"For breaking the rules, you shall be bitten to death." Before she could register his intentions the guy had closed the distance between them and was already in a position to strike.

'_When did he take his tonfas out? This doesn't look good!_" She immediately brought her arms up to defend herself, her reaction was a split second too late as one of his tonfas collided with the left side of her body.

She felt herself being thrown off balance by the impact of the strike, but the more pressing matter in her mind was the stabbing pain she felt from her ribcage. '_That's going to leave a few bruised ribs at the very least_' this was not the time to ponder on her injuries, she needed to find a way out of the situation.

She narrowly escaped another strike by somersaulting towards her right. The guy was faster than she thought as he seemed to immediately recover from the missed hit and was now upon her once again. '_How the heck did he become so fast?_' Another near dodge; the outcome was not looking favorable for her. Even going all out, she would probably still have some trouble defeating the upperclassman.

The most important thing right now was to get up to the same standing level as him, but his frequent slashes were making it hard to even recover footing in her attempts to avoid getting hit. She could see why the guy was the most feared person in the entire school, even having gotten the teachers to allow him free realm.

This would technically be their first meeting, as Tsumi had made sure to be wary around the guy after hearing the rumors surrounding his name. She guessed she must have made a pretty weak first impression with this first official meeting, having been found skipping a period.

Even under all the attempts on harming her body, she couldn't help but wonder if using violence was the way the guy solved all his problems? This couldn't fare well for his social life; any potential acquaintances would have been scared away by his battle craving demeanor.

For a strange reason, she decided right then and there that he was a person she wanted to know more about. It was a decision made in the spur of the moment, another one of her whimsical tendencies, but Tsumi was going to carry out her desire; she never came into much harm even with her penchant for seemingly random acts.

A gasp of pain escaped her as she felt a heavy force hit her right thigh, of course befriending him could wait for the moment; first she had to somehow find a way to stop his attacks. '_That strike actually hurt_,' if she continued on taking his blows even she could get some pretty severe injuries.

For some odd reason, she didn't mind the pain too much, her mind being elsewhere.

It was as if her sudden interest to gain the support of the disciplinary leader had initiated some sort of reaction from deep inside her. It was a strange sensation, and it wasn't the first time she had experienced it. It was a strange feeling, as if she'd found one more component of a whole.

She'd barely saw that strike at her head coming, wincing mentally at what injuries might've resulted if that had hit home.

Tsumi was starting to grow irritated, now that she had a goal set firmly in mind the fight was wasting precious time she could've spent convincing the guy to join her.

'_Please let this end soon_' "Kyoya, fighting so much can't possibly be good for you!"

She looked on in confusion when said person abruptly froze in his attacks. Her puzzlement only grew when he directed a fierce glare at her. What had she done for the sudden increase in his aggressiveness? Then a terrifying thought hit her,

"Oh no, did I say that out loud?"

The narrowing of the disciplinary leader's eyes only served to confirm her suspicion.

'_Shit_.'

"Um, listen, that wasn't what I meant" Her plea fell on deaf ears.

"Just, ignore what I said?" She swore she could see an oppressing violet tainted aura coming from the guy.

"What gave you the right to address me by my first name?" His response took her by surprise, '_That was what got him so riled up?_' She'd thought it was because she had dared to berate him. Her attention returned to the upperclassman as he spoke again.

"Answer me, Sawada Tsunayoshi; I am not going to repeat myself." What to do in this type of situation? She wasn't going to risk telling him the truth, even if it would make everything so much easier with the benefit of possibly gaining the backing of the disciplinary committee.

She wasn't willing to return to dodging the guy's attacks again either, so Tsumi decided to stall him somehow, and from there she could devise some way to escape his wrath.

'_Quick brain, come up with something that would make him listen, it doesn't matter if it sounds absurd I just don't want to deal with him right now!_'

"Well…U-um, I have this s-separate personality that c-comes out sometimes…" It was a decent excuse, something that could cover up for her should she ever let slip her character in the future. The intimidating upperclassman merely gave her a final glare before he turned around and left the roof; she noticed that he hadn't put away his tonfas.

The feeling of relief settled into her as she watched his figure disappear down the staircase, '_I feel sorry for the next person who is unfortunate enough to break a rule in his presence._' That person was certainly not one to underestimate; Tsumi winced as she had just carelessly brushed her hands across one of the areas on her upper body that had been injured.

She briefly wondered the reason why the guy had come to the roof at this time; didn't he have classes to attend to himself? Whatever his reason was, she supposed she should be thankful that he hadn't made her return to class. '_Science class is just … Ugh._'

Without the consistent threat of being beat up she could finally allow her tensed body to relax.

Tsumi fell back into the position she'd been in before the disciplinary leader had come, now where was she in her musings? Ah yes, Nezu being a jerk; it wasn't like he was the only teacher she had that acted superior, but he was the most open in his attitude towards her.

Suddenly the girl felt a weird sensation travel through her body. Why did she have the feeling that this would only be the first of many encounters she would have with one Hibari Kyoya? Why was she still thinking about the guy anyway?

Tsumi sighed, in the end the premonitions she had never turned out the way she expected them to, so she decided to let time run its course. She idly checked the watch on her left wrist for the time, eyes widening slightly in surprise when she saw it to be five minutes to the next class.

'_I guess it's about time I hurry back, seeing as I actually like Music Studies and that it's the last subject of the day anyway._' The girl stared longingly at the sight above her. The sky was a nice shade of cerulean today; she really didn't want to return to class.

Slowly she pulled her way into an upright position, as she made to stand up she couldn't help musing over how sunny weather conditions also had the effect of making her slightly lazier than usual. '_Guess it's back to playing my part as a clumsy student_' Sometimes she wondered if creating the mask was really that good an idea.

She just felt so restricted in her actions at times, there was not much you could do as a below average preteen student that would not draw attention. She was at the door of the school's roof now.

'_I feel lonely again…_' It was with that last thought that she forcefully changed her mind-set to that of her façade. With a last glance of the clear cobalt painted horizon, the girl exited the rooftop.

"There is something wrong with the structure of the notes in this chord; can anyone tell me the mistake?" Tsumi tuned her teacher out as soon as she'd finished asking the question, it was a review period then.

'_Come to think of it, Sakase-sensei had said something about a theory test next class._' Well it didn't have much to do with her, having already learned all she could during her time with the Ichiros. Even though she knew she could probably ace the test if she wanted to –and she really did, if only to see her classmates' faces-, she would need to achieve a mundane score in order to maintain her less than threatening image.

'_Well, there's still three fourths of an hour left before I can return home, I should entertain myself until then._' The problem would be what she could do; the things she could do at her desk were very limited. So it came down to a few options; actually take down notes, doodle, brainstorm ideas for songs, take a nap, or observe her classmates.

She would rather use her time more wisely than half heartily taking down notes, and her imagination seemed to be on a small break at the moment, so doodling and brainstorming were out. Taking a small nap for an hour sounded kind of nice, but then again, she didn't want to be waked up by her teacher's irritated voice. That left observing her classmates then, something she was not against doing as she like to practice her people analyzing skills; It also did not take a lot of energy to do, something she didn't have a lot of at the moment. Honestly, she felt like just curling up like a feline and wasting the day away, of course than her image would be totally ruined.

She rested her head onto her right hand, so that she would at least look like she was concentrating should the teacher call on her. She'd taken to quietly observing her classmates since the beginning of the freshman year, finding it interesting to see the layers of masks and personalities that came into play in the interactions they had. Where had she ended off last time? It was somewhere in the last few rows of desks in front of her.

She might as well look to the row in front of her, seeing it easier to see the students that way. One of the perks to sitting in the last row was that there was no one behind you that could observe what you're doing. Of course, being the paranoid girl she was, she'd also gotten a seat near the corner of the room, so at least one of her sides were covered if someone were to attack. It just so happened she chose to sit by the side the windows were; she often got reprimanded for gazing out of them.

Most of the classrooms within the school were structured the same way, each containing between 20 to 24 desks organized in rows of four or five. There were exceptions of course; some of the more upbeat teachers had taken to changing the seating plan to their liking.

Her Home form, the room in which she had most of her lessons was organized in the traditional way; the same could be said of this Music Studies classroom it seemed. Following her decision, Tsumi focused her attention to the occupants of the four desks that formed the row in front of her.

From the far left of the room to the right side there was Seto Minatsu, Kobushi Hinata, Tsukino Sakuna, and Yamamoto Takeshi.

Minatsu was an alright guy, he was what people would call an introvert, studying his time away. He stood at an average height of 5 foot 4, and wore glasses that seemed to constantly slip over his nose. He had a typical looking face, featuring straight black hair that was neatly combed back, and dark brown eyes that seemed enlarged by his rectangular glasses. All in all, Tsumi thought him a good classmate, even if he did tend to seem a little insufferable at times.

Hinata was like the female version of Minatsu -Tsumi still couldn't believe they were not twins, or at least siblings-, having the same rectangular glasses and black hair; although she had hers tied up in a neat ponytail. Her hair also seemed to be a little darker than Minatsu's, looking to be a shade of ivory. She stood just an inch below the guy, about five foot three. You could say that she was harder to approach than the boy, as unlike the guy she didn't like to talk much unless she was asked to.

Sakuna, well there was a girl she had some more info on. She was one of those types of girls that constantly caught the attention of others, no matter what the place people always seemed to assemble around her. She was the tallest girl in the class being at five foot six, something she took advantage of, preferring to wear shorter skirts to show off her legs. She was considered a beauty among the boys of their grade, and even by some in the higher grades.

The blonde haired girl knew how much people admired her, and she didn't waste that influence. Even for the littlest of things she would have people from her circle attend to them. Her name was constantly spoken in conjunction with rumors of who her latest boyfriend was. Within the grade there were some girls that looked up to her, while the rest despised her. One of the newest gossips circulating the school at the moment was of the relationship between her and Yamamoto Takeshi, the boy that sat beside her, and directly in front of Tsumi.

Whether the rumors told the truth, Sakuna certainly wasn't doing anything to refute the comments. Though the boy she was supposedly in a relationship with wasn't denying the claims either, judging from the frowns that crossed his face whenever his "girlfriend" was mentioned, Tsumi deduced that the rumors were false. It was either that, or the guy wasn't in the relationship of his free will, after all blackmailing wasn't something Sakuna was above resorting to.

Yamamoto Takeshi, an interesting guy in her opinion. He grew up nicely since the first time she'd seen him. The guy looked to be the tallest in the class; standing somewhere around five feet eight; if she stood next to him, he would probably tower over her. It wasn't her fault, the girl sulked, and five feet two wasn't really that short.

Over the last two years, she'd taken to observing the guy whenever she had the chance. She shared a bond of kinship with him, so it was only natural to oversee how he was doing Tsumi had reasoned.

She couldn't help but notice something not quite right with the guy, sure he seemed to be happy, but she didn't miss the forlorn look that sometimes flickered across his eyes. She decided to keep a closer eye on him, if something were to happen to him, she would be the first one to help.

All in all, Tsumi supposed she rather preferred Music Studies to others subjects. Her classmates were pretty decent, as they just ignore her most of the time compared to the people from the other classes that openly taunted her.

'_What time is it?_' She looked to the side of the room at the clock that hanged above the door. It was already 2:50 PM it seemed, only ten minutes left until the bell rings for dismissal.

Tsumi continued staring at the clock as the seconds ticked by, with just five minutes left of the school day she was getting slightly impatient. It was because of her fixation with the clock that the girl didn't notice how the attention of her classmates was no longer on their teacher.

She also didn't see how the irritated teacher had selected a chalk stick and seemed to be preparing to throw the object at her. As she had not seen the eyes of her classmates on her and having let her hold on her façade slip over the past hour, Tsumi's hand had automatically caught the offending object before it could make its way to her forehead.

She didn't realize what she'd done until she heard the gasps that had escaped her shocked classmates. Tsumi looked around the room to see all eyes fixated on her.

'_Did they see…of course they did_' Why else would her classmates look so surprised if they hadn't been looking for her reaction? The girl sighed before lowering her hand and opening it, wanting to see what had been thrown at her. Seeing the piece of chalk, she could only frown inwardly. Teachers weren't supposed to cause physical harm to students, no matter how small the punishment.

She voiced her opinion to the soon flustered Music teacher. Luckily for her, right when it seemed the women would make some kind of retort, the bell rang. Tsumi took advantage of the momentary shock the class was in and immediately bolted out the door after shouting out a quick goodbye to the teacher.

It was only when she began descending the stairs that the repercussions of her actions came slamming into her. Successfully catching an airborne object flying towards you was not something Tsunayoshi Sawada as capable of doing. Reprimanding someone, let alone a teacher was certainly not something Tsunayoshi Sawada would ever think of doing. What was she going to do tomorrow? She could feel a minor migraine coming in from thinking of how fast the news would travel around the school by the next day. '_No use regretting it now Tsumi, what's done is done, better to just let the situation blow over._'

She was soon out of the school grounds and heading back to her apartment. She couldn't wait to finish reading that book she'd started last night; it was so full of unexpected twists! Just like that, any worries she had over her actions near the end of class were pushed aside, to return the next day when she would be faced with her classmates. Until then, she didn't want to think about anything else other than her beloved book.

* * *

Somewhere in Sicily, Italy, inside a shady pub, a transaction was taking place between two figures. They had paid the owner for a private room within the building, but even with the more secure location they spoke in hushed whispers, not willing to risk any information leaks in the off chance of their conversation being recorded.

The two looked to be a rather odd pair, with one man being more than a few heads taller than the other. What would seem even stranger would be the tone of respect in the larger one's responses to the shorter one. After a few more whispered sentences, the taller man nodded once before leaving the room.

The shorter man remained in silence for a few moments, as if mulling over the last words the larger man had spoke to him. Finally, after what seemed to be five minutes later, he too exited the room, making sure to leave a tip at the counter before he left the bar.

A few hours later, when the man finally reached the safety of his home, and after pouring himself some freshly made espresso, the man ascended the stairs to his private study on the second floor.

He took a small sip before placing the espresso on the coffee table. Next he used a small stool as a stepping stone to raise himself onto his sofa. He inwardly grimaced at his need for the extra leverage, even with good reasons he would never get used to having trouble to do the things his old self did with ease.

Upon propping his person onto the furniture the man immediately relaxed into the comfort of the sofa. He finally had the time to open the letter he'd received earlier on in the day. The messenger had said something about it being a memo from the ninth himself. He would've read it earlier, if it wasn't for some last minute assassination requests he'd gotten.

Now he could see what Nono had wanted him to know, although if the letter turned out to be one of utmost importance, well let's just say his recent clients would pay for wasting his precious time. He carefully slit open the letter with a miniature knife made for these occasions and took the letter out.

As he unfolded the letter, he felt his familiar shuffle around his shoulders for a better view. When he finally got to reading the contents of the letter, he allowed a smirk to grace his face. If Nono's assumptions were true, then things were going to get interesting in the future.

He placed the letter beside his now lukewarm cup of espresso and tilted his fedora until it partially covered his eyes; it was time he took a well deserved rest. With that last thought, the man soon drifted off to sleep.

The lamp overseeing the private study casted soft shadows along the creases of the letter, it was hard to fathom that the contents of the correspondence would lead to actions that would change the future of the underworld.

* * *

_My most trusted advisor,_

_I have received surprising_ _information from one of my man situated in Japan. While doing a check over the files of citizens in the Namimori area, he came across a particular surname that we are all well acquainted with; Sawada. Specifically Sawada Tsunayoshi, a freshman attending Namimori Middle school._

_While this may be a false alert, I cannot help but get my hopes up. Therefore, please take the next plane to Japan at midnight; you should arrive in Japan by 10 AM tomorrow._

_Enclosed I have included your flight tickets along with a small profile of the student, while his qualifications may be lacking; we must take all the changes we get._

_If my speculation should be true, I think he may be the changing tide we're looking for. For all our sakes, I dearly wish he is the one._

_-Nono_

* * *

_Thanks for reading :) _

_Please look forward to the next chapter and have a great morning/day/evening/night!_


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Please refer to the first chapter

* * *

Last Chapter:

_My most trusted advisor,_

_I have received surprising_ _information from one of my man situated in Japan. While doing a check over the files of citizens in the Namimori area, he came across a particular surname that we are all well acquainted with; Sawada. Specifically Sawada Tsunayoshi, a freshman attending Namimori Middle school._

_While this may be a false alert, I cannot help but get my hopes up. Therefore, please take the next plane to Japan at midnight; you should arrive in Japan by 10 AM tomorrow._

_Enclosed I have included your flight tickets along with a small profile of the student, while his qualifications may be lacking; we must take all the changes we get._

_If my speculation should be true, I think he may be the changing tide we're looking for. For all our sakes, I dearly wish he is the one._

_-Nono_

* * *

Chapter 8: **Tutor?**

This morning's first period class had certainly brought Tsumi out of her cheerful mood. She'd forgotten the events of the previous day in favor of finishing her book. Everything came back to her when she walked into class the next day, having been bombarded with questions from her fellow classmates. Were the rumors true they would ask. She somehow managed to stutter her way through the queries without giving any details away. Her classmates soon left her alone after they realized that they wouldn't be able to squeeze anymore information out of her.

At the moment the girl was dozing off in English studies, her second period class. She felt dead tired from the questioning session she went through during Mathematics. Honestly, she had no idea why everyone had taken so much interest in her.

'_If they're going to be crowding around me every time I do something I'm not supposed to, then I might as well drop my façade altogether._' It was too troublesome to maintain an image meant to help her blend into the background if she was continually brought into the spotlight.

'_It was feeling so peaceful these last couple of weeks too…_' Were these recent events signaling something larger to come?

Tsumi allowed herself a small sigh of frustration; it was harder than she thought, maintaining the image she wanted to project. She took a wayward glance at the clock, there was still 45 minutes left of the period. She suppressed a groan, instead choosing to stare out the window. She was lucky that she had a window seat in all of her classes, how she managed to win all the seating draws baffled her. The clear views of the sky played a part in helping her keep her sanity though, so she was grateful for her luck.

The weather had been nice for the past few weeks, bright and clear with enough wind drafting in to keep a person cool. Tsumi had taken to reading outside, why would she stay in her stuffy apartment suite if she could be enjoying the refreshing breezes after all? One of her favourite places to sit back and relax would be at one of the open fields near the Namimori Shrine. It was funny how even with the people constantly wondering around there, she would still find solace in being near the area.

She thought of school and her studies. She was definitely above the middle school curriculum level; with all her years learning under various teachers she knew she was probably above or at the high school graduate level. Often Tsumi would find herself wondering why she bothered to remain here, positively wasting away at a school full of children that knew no better. She would always however be reminded of her resolve, how she wanted to find the whereabouts of the assassins from that night, and how she would not bring unnecessary harm to innocents (who in this case were the people of Namimori town.) Her promise to her sensei's friends to dress as a male did irk her to an extent, overall however, she paid her gender situation no mind, as long as she felt comfortable with what she was wearing dressing as a guy was alright.

School would be so much less taxing on her if her teachers had not chosen her as some sort of scapegoat, instead of picking on the other slackers in class; all of their attention seemed to be on her. Really, you would think being the student with the lowest average the adults would learn to leave her alone; even by the off chance that her teachers were genuine in their efforts to help her, what of the other students than, there were some who seemed to be struggling as much as her. To Tsumi it merely seemed as if all her teachers were taking some sort of perverse pleasure in exposing her failures.

Even Tarafumi-sensei, who was known throughout the freshman students as a fair teacher seemed to single her out at times. As if she was somehow able to read her thoughts, said teacher launched another question at her.

"Let's see Sawada-kun, try to answer this question. Which form of the word would be correct when put into this sentence: there, they're, or their?" It was a rather tricky question to ask of a mere beginner in the English language, more frequently asked in a student's second year of studies.

'_Why does she always single me out with these questions? Even if she always asks me in that chirpy tone of hers, it doesn't make her that much different from the others._' She inwardly rolled her eyes; of course she knew the correct form of the term to use, but in order to maintain her persona…

"w-would it be "_There_"?" She deliberately chose one of the wrong terms and spelled it out. She knew her reputation as a dame student was cemented even more when she saw the women sigh.

"Unfortunately Sawada-kun, you are incorrect. The correct term to use in this case would be "_Their_", you may sit down now."

Tsumi made sure to hunch her shoulders as she took her seat, so anyone with their attention still on her would see a relieved boy, rather than the seething girl she was inside. Most of the class were busy snickering at her inability to get yet another question right, so she didn't have a lot to worry about.

She took the opportunity to take a reassessment of her classmates. There was more to it than a simple profiling of known skills and attributes this time; she was looking for a potential friend; someone whom she would be able to spend at least some time with. While she didn't want to admit it, she was not someone who liked solitude. Her brief bout of melancholy after her encounter with the school's disciplinary leader reminded her of that. Kyoya was definitely on her list, for some reason his danger level just didn't scare her at all. She wanted to be herself from time to time and maybe if she found some suitable friends who were also strong enough to protect themselves…

She had no luck so far in her search, perhaps she should check among the other first years? There were a few people in her class that had caught her attention though, Kurokawa Hana, Sasagawa Kyoko, and Yamamoto Takeshi.

Kurokawa had an interesting personality, she was quick witted, fast to resort, and had an intelligent aura surrounding her. The girl didn't participate in taunting her as most of the class often liked to, although she had never tried to intervene either. She seemed to call everyone who annoyed her, a monkey, something Tsumi found highly amusing. She would make an excellent intelligence link if trained by the right people… That's was not something she should be thinking at the moment, or ever of ordinary classmates; moving on to the next candidate.

Sasagawa Kyoko, a bright and bubbly girl who was already among the most idolized females within the school. She was polite to everyone as far as Tsumi knew and even the teachers seemed to give her some special attention. She was the best friend of Kurokawa; even with their almost opposing personalities, they made a surprisingly good pair. Sasagawa had tried to talk to her on numerous occasions, but she had yet to make an effort to respond. She didn't care what the rest of the student body would think about her, but any comments directed towards Sasagawa on the other hand, those were what were making her hesitate in accepting the offer of friendship. The girl had a great reputation considering she was just a first year, and if it were to be tarnished because of her, Tsumi didn't want to ruin someone's school life like that.

The last person that left an impression on her would be Yamamoto Takeshi; although it was to be expected, she had personally seen his potential years ago. Tsumi was glad he was leading what seemed to be an average life, not being held back by his past. He had a charismatic personality that probably drew everyone to him, and his athletic accomplishments were not something to laugh at. He also treated everyone around him fairly, with no bias or condescending attitude. Like Sasagawa, he already had the beginnings of what promised to grow into a large fan club. Yamamoto had not crossed paths with her current persona often, there were the in-between Hellos and Goodbyes, but no indication that he wanted to create a friendship. She'd noticed how although he seemed to be always smiling, there was times when his grins seemed more strained. Tsumi was conflicted on whether to approach him or not; on one hand it would be great to interact with someone she knew, but at the same time there was no need to involve the guy for her own selfish nostalgia.

These were the only three people in the class who were not currently snickering at her failed answer. Honestly as if any of them could have given the correct response. All three showed disapproval at the open teasing, with Kurokawa scowling, Sasagawa frowning, and Yamamoto showing a grim look on his face. Well, even if she could not befriend all three, it was nice to see at least some people cared, for her situation if nothing else.

It was at that moment that the school bell rang, signaling that lunchtime had started. Amongst the growing volume of conversing voices, Tarafumi's dismissal could barely be heard.

"Hey back to our usual spot?"

"Of course, I'll get the food this time, you ok with melon-pan?"

"Sure, remember to buy the juice this time-"

"Ne, let's ask Yamamoto-kun if we can eat lunch with him today!"

"Are you serious?"

"Kyoko-chan looks cute today, as usual-"

"Ah, lunch is what I attend school for-"

"Honestly, I think I failed that English test we had a week ago-"

"I think I'm going to check out the new café on my way home today, want to come with me?"

"I can't do this anymore, I really thought this time I would win the bet too…"

Normally, she was able to get past the lunchtime drama and carry on with her own business, but for some reason today, all the conversations were getting to her. She suddenly felt sick, and she knew the myriad of different voices were the cause. Without further thought, she rushed through the scattered groups of students, not caring if she bumped into anyone. In her hurry to exit the classroom, she didn't notice the confused looks a certain black haired male was giving her.

It was only once she'd gone far away from her class that Tsumi felt safe to rest. She didn't know what came over her, she wasn't claustrophobic, and this had never happened before. Well, she could muse about what happened later, right now she had to find a place to eat her lunch. Missing a meal made her more moody after all, and she needed her energy to deal with school.

She didn't exactly feel like eating her packed lunch at the school today though, wanting to have some time away from those "monkeys" as Kurokawa would put it. The only option left was to eat lunch at home than, it sounded better than staying at school at the moment.

She set off with her destination in mind, lunch break was only for an hour and she'd already wasted 10 minutes of it. Thankfully she'd rented a suite in an apartment that was fairly close to Namimori Middle, so she would have time to eat part of her lunch before heading back.

A few minutes later found her entering the Apartment building; Tsumi guessed she was lucky that she'd managed to get the suite, as the housing was one of the nicer looking ones out there. The interior wasn't grimy or dark, it looked inviting and clean.

Like always she made to check her mailbox, number 27 for any letters. It was more of something to do as she had never received any mail before, and thankfully the security office didn't let any junk mail through. She was surprised when she opened the slot to find a single piece of paper lying within. Her curiosity aroused, Tsumi grabbed the note and quickly read through it. She read through it again, just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

Are you failing your school subjects?  
Being called an idiot by your classmates?  
Looking to improve yourself?

Do not worry; a home tutor will be arriving shortly to your residence. He will shape you into the leader of the next generation.

There will be no fees needed, as long as you provide 3 meals a day and shelter, as your new Tutor shall be teaching you around the clock.

Look forward to being reborn as a new person, through training sessions and strenuous challenges.

Was this for real? They honestly believed that she would accept such a shady looking leaflet like this one? How did the flyer even get through the security office she wondered, it didn't exactly look like a professional letter after all. Wait, there was no contact number, and it said "arriving shortly", she had no choice in this did she?

Tsumi slapped a hand against her forehead; of course this was the work of those guys, specifically that particular arcobaleno. She'd heard that over the years that guy became a little weird in the head, the old him would never leave such a blunt note like this. It seemed it was her turn to be tutored then, last she heard, the guy had been training the newest head of the Chiavarone famiglia. More importantly, how did they find her location?

'_Stupid Tsumi, you kept your family name didn't you?_' Ah…right, she'd registered with her family surname, not bothering to make one up. They probably found her that way; actually it was more suspicious that it took them two years to find her, they should have found her at least a year earlier by their standards.

It seemed like she wouldn't have time to have lunch today, a thought that made her weep mentally. She had prepared her favourite Sushi for god's sake. On second thought, screw it, she'd went through a lot today; she deserved to enjoy some food. She could be a few minutes late for school, after all the next period was Physical Education and as she couldn't show her true ability, she was just going to fall around anyway.

With that in mind Tsumi shoved the flyer in her book bag and made her way to the elevators, eating her lunch now taking over the majority of her thoughts.

Around 10 minutes after Tsumi left, a flowerpot from the side of a waste bin began to move. At first it merely shifted right and left a few times, than it starting shaking slightly, making its leaves rustle. Five minutes later the plant sprouted legs, and soon a pair of hands. One arm reached towards the leaves and took away a secret compartment. A child's face could be seen after these actions. Inside the plant was a baby, or more specifically, a five year old child that had been using the plant as a disguise.

The expression on the baby was one of excitement. Considering his reason for coming here, it could be in anticipation to be able to teach a potential candidate for the position of Decimo, or to abuse his soon to have authority and scare the pants off the boy.

Now that he'd seen the boy up close he could add his newly collected data to his InfoBase. Although he had already been given a through run-down on Sawada Tsunayoshi's life, there were some things you had to determine yourself by watching the target closely.

His mannerisms for example, could not to be concluded by such a brief investigation. Even after reading the file on the boy's information, Reborn could not have deduced the student would have kept the flyer instead of crumbling it up. It would be the course of action most normal people would have taken; as even he had to admit that the paper reeked of a scam. Although as an excuse, he had only the time between his departure from Italy to his arrival in Japan to design and write out the letter; if only he had another day, it could have sounded so much more to his standard.

Reborn waddled over towards the mail box area, not caring enough to take off his costume; he then proceeded to stare at slot 27, the one the boy was checking earlier.

In his musings, the boy did not quite match his profile. His stature did not remind Reborn of an introvert, nor did he seem clumsy; he also didn't seem as self conscious as he was expected to be. Then again, the researchers had piled up these pieces of information in a short amount of time, so there was the possibility that the data was simply a bit inaccurate.

One thing stood to trouble him though, why had the boy showed a gesture of exasperation after he read the flyer? It was as if he'd realized something, although Reborn didn't know what, and that troubled him.

He had arrived in Japan around three hours prior due to using one of Nono's private planes. One of the things he missed about having his old body back would have to be the longer amount of time he was able to stay attentive. A large setback of his current body would be how much he needed to rest in order to function. So he could muse more on his future student later, right now he needed a quick nap. With that thought in mind, Reborn headed out to who knew where, to be back in the later hours of the evening.

Tsumi was thankful for the final bell of the day when it rang, it meant her last period of the day was finally over; it wasn't that she disliked Japanese, with it being her mother tongue how could she dislike it?

She had just been feeling so tired since the latter half of the school day started; over the duration of the period, she had been fighting against the constant urge to sleep. It had actually been the first time she genuinely hadn't been able to provide the answers to the questions. What made it worse was that she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

She started feeling the stares after she returned to school for Physical Education, since they were running around a lot she couldn't quite determine who had been the one looking at her. Now that she thought about it, she'd felt like she had been spied on back in the Apartment lobby too, although she had only been able to feel that to a lesser degree.

Had she acquired a stalker? The very idea gave her goose bumps; did one of her classmates follow her back during lunch break? Feeling the beginnings of a headache making its way in, Tsumi decided to put off her thoughts until she was back at her suite. For the second time today, she pushed her way through the groups of bustling students. Again because of her haste to return home, she was not able to catch the identity of the person guilty for staring at her all afternoon.

Tsumi allowed herself a content sigh as she walked into the lobby of her apartment building, the air conditioning doing its part in rejuvenating her mind. Since she'd already checked her mail box earlier today, the girl directly made her way to the elevators that would take her to her floor. Most of the tenants living in the building were working members of society, she usually never met anyone around this time of the day. Thus she relaxed her stance and leaned against the cool walls of the elevator box; she honestly had no idea why she was feeling so tired today, but brushed it off as the stress she'd been under from school.

Over time she had managed to establish good relations with most the staff working at the apartment, this meant she did not get harassed to pay her rent as much –not that she ever delayed her payment, money was not really a concern for now- , with the added benefit that she didn't get questioned for when she left the building at night.

Snapped out of her thoughts by the bell that signified she had reached her floor, Tsumi quickly left the elevator and made her way through the familiar hallways to her suite. She had planned her arrival in Japan quite well two years ago. Not quite willing to go through the experience of getting smuggled again, she'd searched for a plane service that allowed children to board flights alone as long as they were ten years of age or older. Of course being without parent supervision and with no consent form, she had to persuade the ticket deal a little before she was allowed in.

Tsumi had already planned to rent a suite in this apartment way before she'd even arrived in Japan. After all, if she hadn't she would've been hard pressed to find a place to rest for the first few days she was here (as it was hard to rent housings these days without calling in early.) She'd selected this particular apartment because of its convenient location and its high reviews in accommodation as well as atmosphere. She had not regretted her decision once in the past two years.

Her musings turned took another direction as she unlocked the door to her apartment suite. When she took her first step into the room, she couldn't help but shiver slightly. Something felt amiss about the surroundings she was so used to.

She gave a quick once over at everything around her, all her furniture looked to be in the same place, so it wasn't a robber than? She wasn't exactly sure what happened, but she felt as if her suite had been invaded by a presence. A presence that she felt was still within her rooms.

Now why would it be her apartment suite out of all the rest in the building that gets broken in? The presence had to be linked to her in some way. It was then that she realized, '_of course! Ugh, you're such an idiot Tsumi. It even said in the flyer that he would be here soon_.'

Knowing the reason for the different feel to her suite, she couldn't help but feel her mild headache grow in intensity. First of all, she felt with all the time and effort she had put into her training, she should at least have reached that conclusion faster. Also, with him here, it probably meant the start of many headaches to come, as she would have to hide her identity from him. She could of course just come out with it and tell him everything, but for some reason she felt it was not the right time.

It was funny because there really was no reason for her to hide her gender or abilities from her soon to be tutor, but at the same time, she felt for some reason that it would shift things to spiral out of control if she revealed herself too early. Even if she was strong enough to defend herself to a decent level, she still had a long way to go until she was strong enough to keep harm away from her loved ones. Tsumi knew, that in order to prevent such attacks on any friends she would make, she needed to create some sort of name for herself, so any enemies would think twice. All this planning really made her head dizzy, and with her current headache; all she wanted was to take a nice long rest for kami's sake!

She supposed she might as well go greet the man, or should she say baby? She really didn't know much about the arcobalenos, nor the curse they hold, but one thing she did know was that they were not to be underestimated. They were said to be the generation's best after all. Once she'd tried to do an in-depth research on these people, but came out with nothing more than what Toru-sensei had already told her.

She had to move forward with caution; there were rumors that Reborn was the strongest out of the entire group, and that was saying something. Even with all the tales of the guy's prowess, Tsumi had a hard time imagining a hitman being hard to beat. Of course, he wasn't called the sun arcubaleno for nothing; he probably had an impressive pain endurance and healing ability.

The question was would he be able to see through her? Probably soon if not right away, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. Even if he were to demand answers out of her, it didn't change the fact that he was tasked to teach her. It would be a great experience to go through, being taught by one of the strongest Mafioso in the world, as grueling as the training would no doubt be.

'_Let's see how the famous Reborn reacts to Dame-Tsuna_,' she couldn't help but grimace at the thought, the guy didn't seem to be a man of patience.

First things first, her persona wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with the place, so she would have to act normally. The first thing she did was enter her bedroom to put her book bag away; she didn't have any homework assigned today so she'll hopefully have time to relax. At the same time, she allowed her eyes to roam around the rooms on her way there, checking for anything out of place. He was definitely good, she would give him that, but then again, maybe it was because the entire time he had been sleeping on her living room sofa?

Tsumi couldn't help but stare shocked at the relaxed figure of the sun arcobaleno. Honestly, she would've thought he would be hidden somewhere, perhaps disguised as something. Could his personality have changed that much with the curse? Well this unexpected turn of events certainly threw her plan off course. She'd been thinking of maybe "accidently" bumping into whatever object the hitman was hiding behind or in. Now her plan got thrown out the window, and she didn't really know what to do next. She had a sleeping baby on her sofa; a child that could potentially send her into a world of pain should she try to wake him up.

All she was sure of at the moment was that her headache was not going away any time soon.

* * *

xXXx

When he awoke, his first reaction was to freeze in place.

He couldn't remember how many times it had been now, since the start of his career as a hitman, that he would wake up only to find himself in an unfamiliar setting. As he started to gain a name for himself, the number of times he would find himself in these situations only increased.

So when he had woken up from his sleep to unknown surroundings, Reborn immediately tried to determine his current predicament. He'd quickly wiped the sleep from his eyes and checked his body for anything missing. When he found that all of his belongings were still on his person, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. The fact that he was even able to search his clothes was odd, as the first thing he usually noticed about these situations, was that he was bound with rope or cuffs.

The next thing he had done was check his fedora that he had placed on the table beside him. It was to his relief that he found his familiar still sleeping soundly underneath it. Now that he knew he was in relatively good shape, his attention turned to sniffing the area around him for any strange scents. In some of his past encounters with enemy famiglie, some of them had thought it wise to not dirty their hands, by getting rid of him with poison gas or fire on a time delayed trap. Thankfully he'd always managed to escape those encounters, not always uninjured, but he had lived to see another day.

Now he did smell something, but instead of the intoxicating smell of gasoline and petrochemicals or the sweet usually unique odor of poison, he found that this scent smelled rather appetizing. It was almost as If food was being cooked, and it was then that he realized. He was suddenly aware of what he had been up to the past couple of hours.

This was where Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Vongola Decimo candidate, resided. No wonder the air in the room felt so untainted, it was just the home of a middle school boy. He put his fedora back on his head, being gentle as to not wake his familiar up in the process, and slowly made his way to the source of the scent.

A few seconds later found Reborn in the shadows of the same room he had woken in. It seemed someone was using the kitchen to prepare food, but the question was who? Although the Decimo candidate himself would be the obvious answer, it went against the clumsy, below average image Reborn had of the boy.

Slowly, he peered over the side of the wall towards the figure of the person responsible for the scents. He was proud to say his face had not indicated the slight surprise he'd felt when he saw one Sawada Tsunayoshi flipping what looked like slices of meat over a sizzling pan.

The hitman couldn't help but gaze upon the boy for another minute. There was one thing that baffled him at the moment, and it was the fact that the child was standing here, cooking a meal that looked to be almost ready to serve, when the first thing he should have done when he arrived home was scream. Considering the mannerisms of a normal teenager, the boy should have at least tried to wake him up, to ask him where he came from if nothing else. Did the boy not care that he could have been a runaway child with a worried parent looking all over the place for him? It seemed to Reborn that the young man had merely taken a glance at him before going about his day, and eventually decided to prepare dinner. The digital clock placed on top of the table had shown him just how long he'd been sleeping, four hours at least.

In the end, he decided he might as well question the boy himself, and if it turned out that he'd really looked over an unknown child, well you could say he would find himself under a harsh punishment.

With his decision made, Reborn stepped out from within the shadows and spoke to the his future student for the first time,

"Why did you not wake me up?"

"h-huh?" the boy's response made him mentally scuff; really, it seemed he needed to teach him how to react to sudden unexpected situations along with everything else. Thankfully though, the boy was smart enough to turn off the stove, else the food would have been burnt.

Reborn watched his actions with hawk like precision; it seemed that the boy had been fending for himself for possibly a long period of time. That brought up the question of where he had been all these years, but it was something the Mafioso would find out later.

"I asked why you had not waked me up when you arrived home, did you not see me?" He was rather interested in what the boy had to say. However when he heard his response Reborn felt at a loss for words.

"I…um felt that I needed to make sense of the situation before I acted…you didn't have any identification on you...so I didn't know who to call." As she stuttered her way through her answer Tsumi couldn't help but feel glad that she'd spent the hour after her discovery of the hitman's sleeping form to formulate a plan.

Before the sun arcobaleno could react to her response, she continued on,

"Oh, and I didn't want to cover you with a blanket because…um, the weather was supposed to be warm and humid this evening, so I didn't want to make you feel too uncomfortable because it looked like you were enjoying your sleep." She said the last part in a hurried sentence, making it sound as if she was freaking out for no reason.

She got what she thought to be a dead pan look from her soon-to-be-tutor, as if he was thinking how she could be so stupid. She knew her logic must have sounded flawed to Reborn, and that had been her real goal the entire time. Tsumi was pretty sure reborn hadn't even considered the fact that she had not covered him with a blanket, until she brought it up in her excuse. This was all so she could bring his mind off the fact that she had not wakened him right away when she came home from school. Basically, she was hoping he wouldn't repeat his question.

Actually now that she thought about it, what was the point of making him forget again? She'd kind of already given him an excuse, which was that she thought he looked too comfortable in his sleep to be woken up. The blanket part was also not true, as the real reason she hadn't covered him with a blanket was so that he wouldn't wake up right away, she was sure that with his trained senses he would somehow feel the light weight. At that time she had not wanted him to wake up, as she had not wanted to deal with him so soon.

'_Kami Tsumi, you're confusing yourself_,' which was true, as she couldn't make sense of what her plan was supposed to do anymore. This was not good; she could feel her headache returning. What was the point of thinking up the plan again? After all, she could have just put all the blame on her dame persona. Well this certainly taught her not to create any strategies when she was feeling unwell in the future, lest there be huge loopholes.

"Er…never mind, are you hungry little boy? It's a little past eight, so I figured you might be a pretty famished right now." Well, at least Reborn's first impression of her was where she wanted it to be, of a weird and pitiful schoolboy.

She had started cooking around two hours prior, arranging some of her best dishes, who said she didn't like to show off a little? Besides, a student living alone being a decent cook wasn't hard to believe. Tsumi had prepared three dishes in total, with a side of Garden salad and some home-made Italian dressing. The dishes were oven cooked mini potatoes in mild chili sauce, some Alfredo Chicken Tortellini, and the dish she had just finished cooking, stir fried Beef and broccoli. Overall a nice balanced meal she would like to think. There was something missing though, and as she looked over the dining table, she realized what it was.

'_Of course, I forgot to pull out some drinks_!' She quickly walked over to the fridge and looked over the selection of beverage it had. Although there was not a lot of variety, as she didn't have to support an entire household. In the end she decided to bring out a jug of cool lemon flavoured tea, and filled a pitcher full of cold tap water.

'_That should do it_,' now all she could only hope that her cooking satisfied Reborn enough that he didn't judge her as harshly. As she looked upon the tiny form of the Mafioso, she realized that he had not answered her question yet. A little perturbed, she cautiously asked the question again,

"Little boy? Are you alright? I prepared some food for you to eat, if you're hungry that is," She couldn't help but notice how Reborn looked to be musing over something. After a moment of silence, she was relieved when the arcobaleno finally spoke again.

"Do you eat like this every day?" Confused by his sudden question she asked,

"What do you mean?" The sun arcobelano continued,

"Do you make this amount of dishes for yourself every night?" After hearing his question Tsumi couldn't keep the slight blush from her face.

"Um…no, I don't make such fancy dishes every day, because of…school work you see," How could she avoid speaking the truth?

"Today…is special, I don't have any homework to do and I saw you there, so I thought…" She left her sentence hanging, not really sure how to continue on. Should she say she thought it was a good opportunity to make a fancy meal? It was somewhat close to the truth, and as Toru-sensei taught her, telling someone a half-truth would make them suspect you less.

Before she could finish her explanation though, Reborn interrupted with a quick,

"I see, I don't want to waste your delicately prepared meal, so I'll dine with you." Hearing him say that, she couldn't help but mentally roll her eyes, really, it was obvious that he was hungry.

She suddenly felt the urge to pout, but she knew better than to act on her childish tendencies, instead she walked over to where the guy stood and pulled out a chair for him to hop up on.

A few seconds past where the arcobaleno remained where he stood. This time she was able to discern the reason why quickly, and it took her some self restraint not to giggle out loud. While the wooden chair was short enough for the guy to climb onto should he try, he actually didn't want to show her that he needed to use so much energy for it.

After making sure she wasn't going to lose herself to her amusement anytime soon, Tsumi bent over and picked up the small form the sun arcobaleno and promptly placed him onto his seat. Really, he shouldn't be hesitating on a matter like that, her persona was supposed to genuinely see him as a child after all; there was nothing to get embarrassed about. It was just his pride holding him back.

She then took her own seat on the opposite side as if nothing had happened. Looking at the dishes in front of her she had to admit, she was looking forward to trying them. Truthfully, seeing such painstakingly made dishes reminded her of the times her mother would go overboard and prepare feasts for meals. It didn't hurt as much anymore, time and new relationships as well as goals had made sure of that.

It wasn't the time to think about the past though; she had some things coming her way she had to focus on. How to deal with Reborn would become one of her constant worries she was sure, with how attentive he was supposed to be.

'_Time to focus on dinner_,' with that, she crossed her hands saying the traditional "Itadakimasu" before picking up her chopsticks and digging into her food.

* * *

Current date in story: Approx. September 16th

**A/N**: Chapter 8 is finally up :) I might still changed some details in the future, but for now this should do for my plans.

_Thanks for reading!_

_If you can spare a minute to compose some feedback for the story that would be great!_

_Have a wonderful day!_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Please refer to the first chapter

* * *

Last Chapter:

_How to deal with Reborn would become one of her constant worries she was sure, with how attentive he was supposed to be._

_'Time to focus on dinner,' with that, she crossed her hands saying the traditional "Itadakimasu" before picking up her chopsticks and digging into her food._

* * *

Chapter 11: **Complications**

She had somehow been able to sleep relatively well last night, and considering there had been a perceptive hitman sleeping just meters beside her the entire time, Tsumi thought she was doing great. At the moment she was trying very, _very_ hard not to think about just how much her daily routine would be changed with the appearance of Reborn in her life.

You could say that she was in a state of denial. The man wasn't going away anytime soon, so there was no point in stressing over how she would fare in the foreseeable future.

So far she had managed to stick to her daily schedule without too much trouble. She might have thought about the danger of her actual gender being exposed to the Mafioso a few times throughout the night, but being the optimistic person that she was, Tsumi just resolved to be extra careful from now on.

She had started the day feeling reasonably calm, if she was to deal with Reborn, she couldn't let herself to lose her rational mind after all.

Last night she had taken everything the hitman threw at her in stride, at least she would like to think so.

After the two had finished dinner and Tsumi cleared away the dishes, she had been immediately whisked away to her bedroom. Where the questions started; the hitman seemed to be more considerate after he got some food in him, that didn't mean he still was not blunt though. Tsumi was just glad that the arcobaleno's questions had stayed geared towards what she had been doing rather than why she seemed a little off from her description in the Vongola Database.

-_Flashback_-

"Where were you for the past six years?"

"A-America" She mentally sighed, hopefully the answers she'd prepared beforehand would satisfy the hitman's thirst for information.

There was a moment of silence before he launched the next question at her.

"Do you remember what happened that night?"

Well that was a rather insensitive question. Honestly hadn't he considered that maybe the student he was demanding answers from was still traumatized? She would have liked it very much just send a smart remark back at the guy and storm out of the room. Sadly, a short moment of satisfaction was not worth endangering her image for.

"No… n-not really" She would just play the timid, downcast schoolboy for now.

"Explain how you got to America, I find it hard to believe that a mere child could have made it all the way to the other side of the world."

"I-I, um really don't remember that much…Hiieee!" That was one mean glare he was currently directing at her, better give him some information to placate him.

"I mean there was a fire, o-one of the only details I remember of t-that night…and then I-I ran away" She paused to bring on a moment of silence. "There were times w-when I slept at a nearby park…because I was running out of money…"

A glance at the hitman told her that she had better give him a real explanation. "Er…. There was this nice man who gave me candy and promised me a warm home. H-he took me somewhere… a warehouse of some sort and, um, locked me in a crate."

She placed a desolate look on her face, "The next thing I knew, I was hearing a bunch of people speaking some foreign language."

"I see." She couldn't decipher anything from the two words spoken, something she wasn't used to. Usually there would be some hint of emotion fueling a person's response, but it seemed Reborn was much more experienced than she thought.

Tsumi decided to continue on, finding no harm in adding to her cover story.

"It had been confusing and more than a little frightening at first. I couldn't understand anything the people walking around me were saying.

It turned out that I was sold I think, to be some rich guy's slave." She made sure to say the last sentence with spurn, while she didn't hate Toruchiwa at all; saying it this way gave her story more depth.

Many of the details in her cover story were based on what really happened, after all the most convincing lies contain some form of truth.

"Um…May I ask for your name…as well as why you're questioning me little boy?" Tsuna didn't know who the guy was so the question was expected.

She finally received a reply a few seconds later.

"I will be direct with you," Reborn stated.

She mentally scoffed, '_As if you had not been from the start_.'

"You have seen the flyer sent to your mailbox, yes?"

"Y-yes, I have." Tsumi quickly schooled her features to one of realization. "Don't tell me…"

"You assumed correctly, I am to be your personal tutor for the foreseeable future"

She mentally grimaced as she prepared to speak the words Tsuna would say, she was wincing because she knew that her response would most likely bring a reaction out of the arcobaleno.

"How is that possible?" She raised the pitch of her voice to create the image of a boy in disbelief. "You're not even half my age; I'm finding it hard to believe how someone who looks like a baby is eligible to tutor someone!"

The hitman reacted to her exclamation just like Tsumi predicted. He moved faster than even her trained eyes could follow and before she knew it had executed a roundhouse kick to her stomach. The sharp pain that followed almost didn't register in her mind as she was having some trouble keeping the shock from reaching her features.

The sun arcobaleno wasn't done yet as he jumped onto her hunched figure and proceeded to pull out what seemed to be a green pistol. She would be lying if she said the resulting scream from having a gun pointed at her head had only been an act.

"Hieee! Wha-what are you doing!" Even through her wariness of the situation, Tsumi stayed in character and stared wide-eyed at the figure currently standing on top of her fallen form.

His face remained stoic as ever as he spoke, "Let me introduce myself, my name is Reborn, and I'm a hitman." Here the arcobaleno hopped off her and retook his position seated in front of her.

"I was sent here to shape you into a suitable heir to become Decimo."

Her first encounter with the infamous Sun Arcobaleno Reborn; the girl from six years ago certainly wouldn't have expected it to be like this.

"Eh!? W-what are you talking about! Please stop playing around, and where did you get that gun?"

Whoever said Tsuna was smart?

Thankfully the hitman seemed to brush her exclamation off, he continued talking as if he didn't hear her.

"You used to be just a candidate for the position, but due to… a series of unfortunate events you became the only candidate left." She couldn't help but wince as Reborn brought three photographs out for visual demonstration.

She supposed those would be the corpses of Encrico, Massimo, and Federico, the diseased sons of Timoteo. She knew this information since the reports of their deaths appeared a year ago. Now that she thought about it, this might have been the reason why it took them so long to find her; she was of no concern to the family, what with three competent candidates already available.

"P-Please put those away! What horrible ways to die…" Tsumi decided it was about time to move the questions forward; she was starting to feel tired and the prospect of just sinking into her warm, fluffy, _bouncy_ bed looked heavenly.

"Let's say I believe you for now, lit…um Reborn-san," She rather liked acting Tsumi decided; it brought along an entirely new perspective to the way she viewed things.

"Why me? I mean, I'm just an average middle school student… In fact I'm lower than average! If you needed a candidate to be a boss, there are a lot of people within my school that would make a better leader than me!"

The man just sighed before responding, "Don't you dare put yourself down, that is something I will not tolerate in the future. To answer your question as to why you were chosen, other than the fact that it was you on the list of candidates and not your schoolmates… It's in your blood, baka-Tsuna."

'_B-Baka!?_'

"Hey! I don't need a baby to call me Baka!" Her response merely brought a tiny smirk to his baby-like features.

"I've done some research prior to meeting you, so I know about your dismal grades." The hitman got up and made his way towards her desk. Before she knew it he was back in his spot and holding up a stack of what seemed to be test papers."

Her eyes widened as she realized exactly what the arcobaleno was showing.

'_Oh no… I forgot to dispose of those!_' To be honest, she had wanted to redo the tests using her actual knowledge in her spare time. It was like an itch she needed scratched, she just couldn't allow the papers to waste away like that.

Reborn shuffled through the papers for a minute before speaking.

"I had thought the information I received beforehand was exaggerated, but apparently not. It seems I have a lot of work ahead of me, baka-Tsuna, how did you manage an average of 42%?"

She schooled the features of her face into one of gloom and stated with a sigh, "I… I just don't get the school curriculum."

"Like I thought, I do however have a plan to rectify your problem, after all we can't have an uneducated boss can we?" Tsumi mentally cried, she could tell she would be in a world of pain from the silent promise in his eyes; the worse part in this was that she actually didn't need the tutoring!

"That would be nice…" At the same time she was inwardly crying tears of self pity, '_Yeah, subjecting my body to unnecessary pain is something I look forward to!_"

The hitman merely gave a nod in answer to her response.

An uncomfortable silence settled on the two. Finally, after what seemed to be a few minutes, Tsumi decided she had enough for the night.

"Um…R-Reborn-san?"

When she saw she had his attention she continued, "It's getting pretty late into the night... And … I have school tomorrow. D-do you think it is okay if we talk tomorrow?"

Thankfully the arcobaleno agreed to her suggestion. She felt she would have eventually let something slip if they had talked for any longer, the day was wearing in on her.

Tsumi slowly got up from her cross-legged position, and stretched her muscles out. Now she just needed to take a nice hot shower, do her nightly ritual, change into her pajamas and she would be all set for a pleasant sleep.

'_Wait a minute…_' She mentally cursed, those were the things she did every night, but things were obviously different now.

Reborn; she silently cursed the hitman. He just unknowingly destroyed her nightly routine! There was now his sleeping arrangement to consider, and oh kami… she was a girl.

There was going to be a male sleeping in her suite, scratch that, he was a middle aged man. Tsumi quickly calmed herself down before she started getting too carried away.

'_Relax…the guy is still in front of you and staring._' Okay, so she had to make some alterations to her routine, no problem.

Quickly, her mind created a plan, but just as she was about to speak, the hitman beat her to it.

"baka-Tsuna, I will be sleeping in your room."

'_Would now be a good time to freak out?_' She had originally planned to ask her new tutor to sleep in the extra bedroom. What was she going to do now? She was already thinking of the things that could go wrong.

"Al-alright…" Tsumi supposed she just had to suck it up and be more careful. She couldn't very well tell him now, there were no excuses for her request except for personal comfort, something reborn would no doubt ignore.

"I-I'm going to take a shower now…" There wasn't anything within her apartment suite she needed to hide, so that was one less thing to fret about.

Seeing that the hitman wasn't going to say anything else, she made her way out into the hallway. Thankfully, her toiletries were located in a sack she always placed in the bathroom.

'_Great, something else I forgot to take into account_' She just realized there was one object that if found would cause Reborn to ask questions.

The gauze she used to wrap her developing chest.

Well she didn't exactly have much there, but hey it was beginning to develop! It would not be a problem if the arcobaleno didn't snoop around too much, and he wouldn't really search her private things would he? Even if he did find the gauze, it couldn't really do anything against her. Gauze was a common item found in First Aid cases, and she could excuse the extra rolls she had as necessary for the numerous injuries caused by her clumsy persona. She would go with that.

Thankfully she preferred normal pajamas to the much more feminine one-piece gowns. Imagine Reborns reaction if he saw "Tsuna" wearing a nightgown!

As she reached the bathroom, Tsumi's thoughts soon turned towards the steamy shower she needed.

Hopefully Reborn hadn't installed any cameras in the suite or anything… She didn't think he was that paranoid but she should really check sometime soon.

**-**_End Flashback_**-**

After her shower, Tsumi had entered her room to the sight of a sleeping Reborn. The guy had fashioned a makeshift hammock out of what looked like the spare sheets in her closet.

There had been a sign near his sleeping form stating to not wake him, or else. She had not felt like becoming the target of the hitman's ire anytime soon, so she had slowly made her way to her bed. Besides, she was pretty sure those were authentic grenades she saw strung up around the proximity of the guy's hammock.

* * *

xXXx

She ended up sleeping well, something she was thankful for as how rested she felt usually determined her attitude for the following morning. Tsumi had woken to the sound of her alarm clock, and quickly finished her morning routine before starting to make breakfast.

Reborn entered the kitchen around 10 minutes after she finished cooking, and they both sat down to eat. Soon after, Tsumi changed in the privacy of the bathroom and got ready to leave for school.

At exactly 8:00 AM in the morning, she was out the door after shouting a rushed goodbye to the arcobaleno.

The bell signally the start of classes rang at 8:30 so she had plenty of time to get to school. Sometimes she thought about joining a club or taking up a sport, but that would mean she had to leave her house around an hour early; Tsuna being the clumsy loner didn't participate in such activities anyway.

She was humming slightly to herself to the tune of a catchy song she learned in America when he appeared. She almost had a heart attack with the way he suddenly seemed to materialize.

'_What's wrong with him, coming out of nowhere? Arcobaleno are really in a league of their own I guess, I couldn't sense him until he appeared in my line of sight._'

"Hieee! R-Reborn-san… What are you doing here?" Was he planning to follow her to school? That would be a problem; after all she didn't have permission from the principal.

The hitman replied in a strangely chirpy tone, "As a tutor, I'm responsible for learning more about my students." He didn't give any more explanation after that.

Deciding to shrug it off, Tsumi continued walking. She wouldn't have minded walking to school in silence, but it was not to be.

"Sawada-kun!"

'_That voice…_' There was no doubt about it; sure enough, when she stopped walking and turned around it was to the sight of one Sasagawa Kyoko.

The question was, what business did the ever popular school idol have with Dame-Tsuna?

Stumped for an explanation for the unexpected situation she found herself in, Tsumi decided to just see how things play out, she really was starting to think everything as threats these days. If she remembered correctly, Sasagawa didn't live in the vicinity of her house, and as far as she could tell, this was not the daily route the girl took to school.

As these thoughts ran through the girl's head, the school idol caught up to the pair.

"Hello Sawada-kun, how are you this morning?"

"Good morning Sasagawa-san, I'm feeling fine, thank you for asking." Tsumi replied uncertainly, thoughts on how to handle the situation going through her mind. "How are you?"

Her response seemed to bring happiness to the girl as her eyes lit up. "I'm feeling great today Sawada-kun! Oh, I'm so glad; you seem to have opened up to me more!"

'_What does she mean?_" She quickly reviewed the last few moments, trying to find what might have caused the girl to respond the way she did; Tsumi's eyes widened by a fraction when she realized what she'd done.

Damn, she had spoken more to the school idol this morning than she had for the last semester and without a single stuttered word too!

"Eh… is that so," She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. Well too late to rectify things now, besides stuttering so often did irritate her anyway; she would tone down the stumbling over words from now on, after all it would just mean Dame-Tsuna was gaining some self confidence.

"Kawaii!" her classmate's sudden exclamation startled her, until she realized who she was referring to. Tsumi watched in horror as Kyoko proceeded to cuddle Reborn, she'd forgotten about her companion with the distraction of her classmate.

It looked wrong on so many levels, considering it was technically a middle aged man she was hugging, a Mafioso at that, and Reborn was anything but cute.

Now what to do with the current predicament?

"Ciaosu! My name is Reborn and I'm Dame-Tsuna's home tutor" There goes the infamous hitman's bluntness again; all she wanted to do at the moment was crawl into a ditch and brood over the unfairness of her life. Sure, considering she was "Dame-Tsuna" her reputation was already low, but having an infant (no matter how experienced he was) proclaim to be her teacher was too much.

"Aw, it's nice to meet you Reborn-chan! My name is Sasagawa Kyoko, and I am Sawada-kun's classmate from school." The two seemed to be off at a good start.

"What are you doing here Sasagawa-san?" She knew she must have sounded a little conceited, but she was curious. Thankfully the girl didn't seem to mind, she was always so quick to forgive, backing up her reputation as the friendly idol of Namimori Middle.

"W-well, I just felt like taking a different route to school today, a change of scenery you know?" Tsumi narrowed her eyes, something was wrong here, Sasagawa never sounded uncertain.

Out of curiosity and concern she asked, "Is there something bothering you, Sasagawa-san?"

She saw the girl's eyes widen a little before she bit her lip. "Is it that noticeable? It's nothing really, Sawada-kun." There was a moment of hesitation before she continued, "I'm just having some trouble with an upperclassman at school."

The way she looked troubled as she mentioned her situation did not pass Tsumi's notice. Someone was making her classmate feel uncomfortable, and while she'd promised to not get involved in anything happening around her, Tsumi felt the need to help the girl.

"May I ask for a name?" They both knew who she was referring to, but the girl showed some reluctance when she answered, "I don't want to involve you Sawada-kun…I'm sure the problem will resolve itself in time."

She mentally scoffed, '_And you sound so certain of that too!_'

There really wasn't anything she could do for the girl right now, so she merely answered with an, "I see."

It was then that Sasagawa glanced at her clock, "Oh, look at the time! I better get to school before I miss my friends!" She looked at Tsuna and gave a slight bow, "It was nice talking to you Sawada-kun, you should talk to people more often, you seem happier when you do!"

With that the girl hurried off in a slight jog, making her way to school without a backwards glance at the thoughtful Tsumi.

She was sure that as popular as Sasagawa was, the conversation they just had also played a part in her sudden departure. Interesting, she would have to start observing her classmate more closely, just in case.

Tsumi felt her heart almost leap out of her chest when Reborn's voice once again came up, she really should be more aware of her surroundings.

"You have a crush on her, Dame-Tsuna" It took a moment for the sentence to sink in.

'_Wait… did he really just say that?' _She felt like bursting out with laughter, sure she liked the girl, but not in that way.

"W-what?! No, no, no! I'm just curious on what was causing Sasagawa-san such distress!"

She didn't like the calculative look that suddenly appeared on the child-like face.

"I mean it! I don't have a crush on her!" The hitman shrugged,

"If you say so" Great, he didn't believe her.

Well, she might as well just let things play out; it was a nice day today, Tsumi felt like just sitting back and letting her restrains melt away.

She suddenly heard what seemed to be bells ringing in the distance. It suddenly registered in her mind that it was the warning bell for her school. He eyes widened in surprise, how had she wasted 23 minutes already? There was only seven minutes left before the gate closed!

Tsumi immediately sped off in a sprint, not taking into account that she had just shown Reborn the real speed she was capable of, something that eventually would come back to bite her in the future.

She did not feel like confronting Kyoya this early in the morning, much less get bitten to death by him.

There were many words that could describe how he was feeling right now, puzzled, intrigued, and annoyed being among them. Reborn didn't think he had ever met a contradictive person quite like Tsunayoshi Sawada.

He'd thought it before, but this child just wasn't anything he had prepared himself for. On the way to Japan, from the files and reports he'd browsed, the hitman has prepared his mentality to meet an incompetent and clumsy boy, not a calculative, seemingly deceptive kid with secrets.

He said the boy was contradictive because his actions just didn't add up. While most of the time, he acted like a typical preteen kid, there were those miniscule moments when he could have sworn the child was mirroring a well seasoned Mafioso with his actions.

Reviewing his past observations of his student, Reborn came to a conclusion, the only times he had seen the boy do anything out of the ordinary were those when the boy thought he wasn't being watched. The only explanation for the secretiveness of the preteen's actions was that he was hiding something.

Reborn couldn't help but feel trepidation pulse within him every time he now thought about his student's actions. He could not wait to solve the enigma that was Tsunayoshi Sawada.

He took a sip of tea, and checked his scarred wristwatch for the time. It was about time for lunch, the man idly what he should get today; there were still many restaurants in the area he had yet to try out. His mind suddenly wondered back to the unexpected meal he shared with the brunet last night. Even knowing the kid lived alone, he somehow didn't take into account his ability to cook, and at a rather decent level too. While his student still had much to work on, the quality of his technique was quite good.

He should stop thinking about his student too much, having realized just how much of each day he spent musing over the boy. It was acceptable he supposed, the child wasn't acting like he expected, and everyone who knew him on a personal level would know that he loved cracking puzzles. Reborn didn't think he seemed obsessed with the preteen boy; he just wanted to know what he was really like.

Thinking back to the events of the morning, he felt quite proud of himself. He had after all witnessed what he supposed was the boy's real speed, accidently shown because of his worry of being late for school. The figures were contrastingly different from the ones in his report. He smirked, if those figures had been wrong, who knew what else could be false information?

Sasagawa Kyoko, another interesting addition to his day. A first year girl said to be the most revered idol of Namimori Middle School. A girl to keep an eye on, her natural charisma had the potential to be frightening someday if used correctly.

His student chose a worthy female to focus his attention on. He would train his student until he rose to the level where he would be a suitable match for Sasagawa Kyoko. His plans brought another smirk to the Mafioso's face; he was such a kind man.

His smirk soon turned into a small childish pout as Reborn realized something, because of the sudden leave of his pupil; he ended up not being able to try out the new batch of dying will bullets Leon had produced last night.

Oh well, he would have his chance in the near future.

Reborn cackled sadistically as he recalled the time he spent with his previous student, Dino. He had no doubt that the foreseeable future would be just as fun.

Tsumi shivered as she felt Goosebumps run across her arms all of a sudden. Someone was talking about her, the guys back in Matera? Probably not, they all had their own lives to live. The only possible alternative would be Reborn. The guy must be planning something, and she didn't particularly want to find out what scheme was hatching in that tiny head of his; especially when it probably involved her safety now that she was his student.

It was currently the start of lunch break and Tsumi, in a spur of the moment decision decided to make due of her resolve to find out what was ailing Kyoko, had followed the girl as she left the crowded classroom.

She observed her classmate's face as her cheerful face turned into a slight frown the further away she got from the rest of the class.

They were now about 10 minutes into the lunch-hour and Tsumi was sure that food would be the last thing amongst the girl's thoughts if her worried face was anything to do by. She was intrigued by the school idol's actions; she had certainly never expected to see such an expression on the girl's face. Realizing what she just thought, Tsumi mentally berated herself, of course it wasn't as if Kyoko was a happy go lucky girl, it was just unsettling to see her classmate's usual smile being replaced by a frown.

The girl she was tailing suddenly turned a corner and disappeared down some stairs, she was heading in the direction of the school basement if the labeled signs were anything to go by. Now just what reason would Kyoko have to go down there? The basement of Nami-Middle was the setting of one of the more disturbing ghost tales often spoken off by the students; something involving a deranged janitor, a former student with anti-social personality disorder, and lots of blood. Tsumi honestly didn't want to find out the details, she hated stories of the supernatural, not matter how superficial they were. They were just creepy.

She happily focused back on the situation at hand; she was a fair distance behind the girl, and the sound of Kyoko's footsteps had stopped signaling that she'd reached her destination. Now Tsumi just pleaded that her classmate didn't go any further, even if it was a futile thought. Why else would a student purposely venture to a desolated area in the school if not to explore?

She was getting chills just thinking about being in the same basement as the one in the gory tale. Suddenly her thoughts focused back on the present as she heard what seemed to be a conversation between two separate voices.

There was someone else there? So Kyoko was meeting someone, a sudden thought ran through her mind, the girl wasn't being blackmailed was she? That would somewhat explain her hesitance to confide her problem to her this morning.

Tsumi pressed her back to the wall leading down the stairs and pointed her right ear towards the voices; she was starting to pick up snippets of what was being said.

Her eyes widened as she heard the distressed voice of her classmate,

"No…Mochida-sempai"

Mochida Kensuke, captain of the Kendo club in Namimori Middle. What was he doing here, in such a secluded part of the school? Why was Kyoko meeting up with the guy, when Tsumi knew the girl had turned him down on his offer of a relationship? This situation simply did not make much sense, and as she didn't have enough information to fill in the unsaid details behind the conversation Tsumi strained her ears, trying to pick up more of the conversation.

"Please understand… I really-" Why was her classmate pleading, was she being blackmailed after all? If so, she would make sure Mochida understood the consequences of hurting one of the few people she liked at school. Blackmailer or not, the guy annoyed her with all his constant boasts of superiority and strutting around the school as if he owned the place; should the guy make one move on her, she wouldn't hesitate to put him in his place.

"Come on… I'm a better candidate than the other guys in this school!"

From what she'd gathered from the fragments of sentences said so far, Kyoko came to this unfrequented area to try to reason with Mochida. It was a predetermined location the guy had set, and from some guesswork, Tsumi had the faint idea that Kyoko had planned to put an end to the situation today. Briefly she wondered if this had been the reason for the girl's apparent discomfort this morning, her nervousness and anxiety to see the day through.

The guy was being stubborn, trying to force Kyoko to be his girlfriend even after that rather public rejection around two weeks ago (Oh she wouldn't be forgetting the idiot's facial expression anytime soon). She could conclude that the guy had probably been pestering the poor girl ever since, and knowing her classmate, she'd been keeping it to herself this entire time.

She heard her classmate try to calm the Kendo Captain down, but with how he reacted, it was to no avail.

"I get it, I didn't believe the rumours at first, but it's the only explanation." The guy laughed, his apparent disgust tainting the sound, "Oh, this is rich! One of the most popular girls in our grade going out with Dame-Tsuna," Tsumi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that statement, how had the guy came to that conclusion she wondered. It wasn't as if she could be constantly found in the girl's company, in fact, she had about the same minimal amount of contact with her classmate as anyone else in the school really. Her expression quickly turned to one of irritation as the upperclassman continued speaking.

"All the more reason to go out with me Kyoko, what do you even see in a loser like him?"

'_Well excuse me for being a loser! It's not like I enjoy being looked down on every day!_' She wanted nothing more than to just make her way down the stairs and give the guy a punch in the face, chest, or really just any part of his body; it showed in her increasingly agitated thoughts to what extent living a restrained life was affecting her. Oh how she fantasized of the day when she would be finally free to be herself, with no fear of consequences.

Her attention returned to the couple as Kyoko surprisingly (maybe not so much, considering her seemingly pacifistic nature) spoke in her defense.

"Please don't talk about Sawada-kun like that... H-he honestly seems like a more suitable boyfriend than you with the way you're acting right now!" Tsumi found her respect for the girl rise. She had thought the girl to be a gentle soul, with not enough fight in her to berate anyone; of course she'd meant that in the best possible way.

The sudden sound of a fist impacting the wall made her body immediately tense up, the guy wouldn't resort to such a thing as violence would he? Not wanting to risk waiting and seeing the possible consequence of her indecisiveness, Tsumi stepped away from the wall and launched herself straight down the stairs. She easily closed distance between the top of the stairs and the bottom where the two had been conversing with a quick front flip in the air. Tsumi, utilizing as much precision as she could from all her years of parkour conditioning, smashed her body into an unsuspecting Mochida.

She heard a moan of pain come from underneath her, '_Pathetic, you would think the captain of a Kendo team to have a higher tolerance to pain._' Honestly, she didn't think she'd hit any ribs so there was no reason for the guy to be taking such sharp breathes. She wondered if the upperclassman had felt any real pain for a while, after all in formal kendo tournaments the contestants always wore armor.

Tsumi mentally berated herself because she'd almost let that thought slip out through her mouth; even with just two witnesses, it was still two people too many who would have seen her acting out of character.

Accessing the situation at hand, she had a shocked guy struggling in her clutches and a surprised school idol in front of her. Just what had she gotten herself into? Before long the upperclassman seemed to have found his voice and was certainly putting it to good use,

"O-oi Dame-Tsuna, what the hell do you think you're doing here?" and "Get off of me!" were among the things she heard, Tsumi tuned the guy out after the first couple of verbal insults, choosing to focus on her classmate who was now looking at her with concerned eyes.

"Sawada-kun", the girl paused after speaking her name, "What are you doing here?"

Kyoko's eyes had not shown any sign of displeasure nor irritation at her interruption, and frankly, she had not expected any. What she did see within the girl's eyes was a hint of confusion and relief.

Tsumi figured she might as well tell the truth, there was no reason to lie in this situation, and if she was to be honest with herself she was intrigued by the other female. She wanted to know more about her classmate; and what better way was there to initiate a friendship than to be truthful?

Taking her persona into consideration, it would be a relative risk befriending anyone in the school, but if she didn't do something soon or at least find a way to release some of her built up stress, she felt as if she would someday lose her clutch on her emotions and go crazy. Tsumi had often found herself feeling frustrated, having no fellow female friends to converse with; oh, there had been multiple occasions in the past where she had to ruthlessly purge her need to rant, and as a result she had been left feeling cranky for the day. She definitely needed a comrade to rant her exasperations to; doing such a thing alone just seemed sad.

It would be nice to hang out with Kyoko and if possible, her friend Hana. There was also her earlier desire to befriend Hibari Kyoya, a task that would be without a doubt challenging. That guy just didn't allow anyone near him, even Tetsuya Kusakabe, his second in command was wary in his presence. With her newly discovered resolve Tsumi filed the decision into the back of her mind for the moment; she'd spent almost a full minute in her thoughts and should probably get back to answering her classmate's question.

What had she been about to do before her thoughts trailed off track? Ah yes, telling the truth. Her classmate deserved to know the truth behind the situation; it would be only fair if she wanted to gain the girl's trust. The stuttering could be left out this time; there would be no need to keep up that particular aspect of her façade. Tsumi wondered if it would be safe to slowly reveal her true self to Kyoko, only if they became really close friends of course. Ever since she was young she had always had this need to confide in someone, she had never been a reserved person by nature. This did not mean she wasn't good at keeping secrets; she could be rather tight lipped when she wanted to be.

Tsumi mentally smirked as she reminisced about the time she'd spent living at her mentor's house. A few of the man's friends had remained behind after the funeral service ended, pulled her aside and told her they would be staying to take care of her for awhile. She was a pretty trusting person overall, but that didn't mean she warmed up to just anybody. Those guys had been just about ready to resort to groveling before she'd decided to grace them with her voice. Who was to say she wasn't stubborn? Tsumi had been pretty mad over how those people had deserted her teacher in his time of need.

Wait, she was going into a trance again. This was not a good habit to keep, but Tsumi just couldn't seem to rid herself of it. She had tried paying extra attention to the thoughts that went through her head, trying to stay relevant to whatever was the topic of discussion at the time. That particular plan had backfired in how the extra time she'd spent in her cautiousness had cost her in reality, making the people around her think she was daydreaming. Tsumi supposed this habit was so ingrained in her personality and life that it wasn't possible ridding herself of it anymore. She could remember many instances in the past where her easily distracted mind had been a hindrance, but maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. Her thoughts often brought amusement at times, but then again, sometimes those ideas were transformed into morbid scenarios, her vivid imagination only making things worse.

'_Argh! Snap out of it Tsumi, this is getting us nowhere!_' Kami, she must have spent at least another minute staring into space from Kyoko's point of view, definitely not a good way to start off a hopeful friendship. Wouldn't want her classmate to get wary of her because she thought she was slightly nuts or something, although Tsumi could admit that she wasn't exactly the sanest person on Earth. Before her mind could wonder along the points supporting her sanity, she ruthlessly crushed the thoughts and pushed her awareness back to reality. The only thing she had to do at the moment was to explain what happened to Kyoko, that was it, no need to think anymore beyond that.

'_Focus on Kyoko. Say some words and we'll be done in a few minutes._'

"Well, Ky- Sasagawa-san," Two words in and she'd already messed up, "I couldn't help but be worried about you, your actions this morning suggested something was bothering you, and well I wanted to help you. "

She ended the sentence in a somewhat awkward manner, not used to actually relaying her feelings after so many years of keeping her thoughts to herself.

Kyoko could immediately feel herself caving in, Sawada- no Tsuna-kun had this adorable air about him. She had been getting ready to lightly reprimand her classmate over his recklessness, but how could she when the guy was already so nervous? She idly noted to go over what happened today later in bed, Tsuna-kun's swift entrance was so cool! To her eyes it looked like a scene coming right out of a fantasy novel.

'_Aw, he's waiting patiently for my reply, how sweet_' She would later go over the sudden absence of her classmate's stutter, for now she needed to thank him for worrying. Really, the boy was too adorable; Kyoko had to hold back from rushing up to him for a reassuring hug.

Tsumi was slightly unnerved by the glint that suddenly appeared in her classmate's eyes. Was she in bigger trouble than she'd thought she was in? Kyoko was a gentle person, so that couldn't be it.

"Thank you Tsuna-kun, can I call you that? I appreciate your help, but I think it would be wise to untangle yourself from Mochida-sempai right now." Mochida, what was she talking about?

'_Oh… Right_' Tsumi has forgotten about the reason for the position she was in. This brought a new cause for concern, while she was okay with letting her persona down around Kyoko, who she already considered a friend. Knowing Mochida, the entire school would be enlightened by this time the next day. Oh he wasn't a gossip like Sakuno, but he would no doubt complain to his circle of friends and Tsumi knew more than a few of those guys were in the girl's pockets. She would find out and bring the school's rumor mill into action.

Her lips suddenly curled into a devious smirk as an idea crossed her mind. Tsumi had an abundance of information collecting dust in her list of blackmail material, she supposed it was about time she used her knowledge. Two years worth of observation was not something one could easily pass off. Tsumi had information on almost every single student in the school, some pieces of knowledge so juicy that even Sakuno would turn over a new leaf and proclaim them the best of friends (she shuddered at the mental image) in order to access them.

She made quick work of untangling her limbs from Mochida, standing back up and dusting herself off before extending her arm towards the guy, as if to lend a helping hand.

Brown eyes stared warily at the gesture, before they narrowed, "As if I need your help Dame-Tsuna."

Tsumi should have predicted the guy would react that way, but all the same, her outstretched hand found a firm grip on the front of Mochida's shirt before she yanked hard and forcefully pulled the upperclassman to face her. She was irritated by the guy's dismissal and a low ache in her stomach had just reminded her that she had missed the opportunity to eat. Of course, all the blame was suddenly directed at the wide-eyed mess facing her.

If she got this over with quickly enough, she wondered if there would be time left to grab a quick bite; then again, the nearest bread shop usually ran out of stock 20 minutes into the lunch period. Tsumi mentally sighed; this was all Mochida's fault, him and his inability to let things go.

Before the guy could spout out another sentence, she leaned closer so that their bodies were almost touching, and tilted her face so that she could whisper in his ears. "If you say a single word about what happened here today, I'll make sure the entire school knows about your transformation in elementary school"

Tsumi couldn't help but grin when she heard the upperclassman's breath hitch, she was also pretty sure the guy was trembling. "Personally I thought it was cute, but I can understand why you chose to leave it behind. Oh don't worry; I have lots more where that came from, I can tell you exactly how many times you were slapped by girls, or even the reason why you came to fear men in black suits." She allowed herself a small giggle, this was too much fun!

"Get the message?" Tsumi smiled brightly as she pulled away to see a nearly hysterical Mochida furiously nodding his head. "Good boy, now off you go, I suppose your friends would be missing you by now."

The guy couldn't have run up the stairs fast enough, but there was one more thing.

"Sempai?" It was amusing how stiff Mochida looked as he froze in his escape. "You know what to say when they ask you where you've been." Tsumi smiled as she saw his shoulders sag before he left her sight. That was one thing taken care of, now for the fun part.

"Tsuna-kun?" Ah, this must have seemed rather shocking from Kyoko's perspective. Tsumi turned around to face the girl, slightly started when she saw the close proximity between them.

"Sasagawa-san …"

"Call me Kyoko, Tsuna-kun" her classmate replied.

"Right, Kyoko-san" The other girl giggled at her determination to stick to formalities. She had no qualms with acting familiar to Kyoko, but as she was currently a "boy", she would wait for their friendship to progress before taking further initiative.

She trailed off, not quite sure how to continue. Her newly made friend seemed to sense her discomfort, as she smiled softly before saying,

"You don't have to tell me anything right now, Tsuna-kun. I'll be there to listen when you're ready." Tsumi understood the double meaning behind her classmate's words of comfort; she was willing to wait a while for Tsumi to tell her the full version of the events that transpired not a few minutes ago. Kyoko was also reassuring her that whatever questions she had for her would only be asked when she was willing to provide answers. Tsumi mentally cried tears of happiness, that was what she liked about Kyoko, so understanding, everything she wanted in a girlfriend.

"Okay, thanks Kyoko-san." She returned her classmate's smile, "Shall we go?"

At her friend's affirming nod, Tsumi lightly grasp the girl's hand and led her up the stairs. She was slightly worried that such close contact would be too bold of a move, but because Kyoko didn't berate her she pushed the thought out of her mind.

She suddenly stopped at the top of the staircase, was it her imagination, or did she really just see someone slip by the corridor? Tsumi wanted to run towards the spot she'd last seen the shadow of the figure but decided not to, she had Kyoko to attend to at the moment, and it was probably just the lingering form of Mochida anyway.

Wanting to get her mind off the suspicious shadow, Tsumi voiced her thoughts about the lunch break as the two continued walking. "Do you think there's enough time left of break for me to run to the convenience store?" She could go without lunch for a day Tsumi supposed, but today she was particularly hungry. Not to mention there was still the afternoon classes left before she could leave the school, should she miss this opportunity.

"Sorry Tsuna-kun, there's only twenty minutes left of the lunch break, I don't think you can make it." Kyoko was right, a clock in the distance told the current time; 12:10. Well that was disappointing, she couldn't keep the small pout from her face.

Her classmate giggled at her reaction, "I accidently made too much food today; perhaps you'd like to eat lunch with me?"

At the girl's words, Tsumi's eyes lit up, "How could I refuse such an appetizing offer? Let's go!"

She increased her speed to a light jog, which thankfully Kyoko didn't seem to mind if her amused giggles were to go by.

This day was looking particularly great, she'd gained the friendship of Sasagawa Kyoko (and hopefully it would extend to Kurokawa Hana in time.) Now she could focus on gaining the favour or acquaintance of the ever evasive disciplinary committee leader. Tsumi wondered how hard it would be to gain an audience with the guy,

'_Would it be easier if I just damaged the school? The guy does have a strange obsession with keeping the school in ideal condition and action should bring him straight to me._' Thinking back to the past attempts of people who'd dared to vandalise school property Tsumi paled, maybe it would be better if she just spread rumours of her supposed deed instead… Should she just request an audience after all?

xXXx

Tsumi decided that she had to arrange a shopping date with Kyoko sometime in the near future. Her classmate's cooking tasted heavenly. The first bite into the cutely crafted Onigiri had brought a multitude of flavours that blended with the soft but firm rice perfectly. She'd finished her small but surprisingly filling rice ball in five minutes. Tsumi sighed contently after she made quick work of the assorted sliced fruits Kyoko had brought for dessert along with a canister filled with jasmine tea. A balanced meal, one that she whole heartily approved of; idly Tsumi noted to ask her classmate for the recipe to create her rice balls, as well as exchanging some other recipes too if the girl agreed. She made sure to vocally express how amazing she thought Kyoko's cooking was, having eaten her meal in quiet bliss.

Blushing prettily at the compliment thrown her way, Kyoko smiled and recounted various times when her older brother had tried to cook, only to fail spectacularly. Tsumi found herself agreeing with her new friend, from the few times she'd spotted the guy, she could understand what Kyoko meant by him being a little too enthusiastic sometimes. Tsumi giggled along with Kyoko as she narrated in detail one of the guy's more messy attempts at baking. She had to admit, an apron wearing Ryohei covered head to toe in white chocolate and sprinkles created a rather amusing picture.

She was about to launch into one of her own stories of kitchen disasters, this one starring herself when she's been but a beginner chef, when a new presence entered her range of observation. Tsumi immediately stiffened as she attempted to reason with her paranoid mind, that their new company could very well be a student; the possibility of it being a hitman was significantly low, a truth she had to unfortunately repeat to herself every time something out of the ordinary happened. She was honestly exasperated with herself; you would think that after six years of relative peace, she would have stopped being so easily spooked. Her ears focused in on the rustling of some nearby bushes, this time Kyoko also noticed the presence.

Hana entered the small but spacious clearing with quick, reassured strides only to pause at the strange scene that met her eyes. It wasn't everyday that one saw their naïve best friend sitting together with a boy, the fact that the male in question was Sawada Tsunayoshi, one of the most talked about students in Nami Middle only briefly crossed her mind. She wasn't one to judge based on a few rumours or stories she heard circulating around the school.

Her eyes scanned the now empty bento and containers that lay scattered near the couple's feet. Something was obviously going on between the two, and she wasn't going to waste any time getting the truth out of her friend. Hana walked intently to a grassy spot in front of the couple and sat down, her eyes softening slightly when her friend flashed a quick smile at her.

"Sorry Kyoko, I was taken aside by my Japanese teacher to help with some paperwork; apparently I was the only person available for the job, the work was left barely filled in by some of my idiotic classmates." She rolled her eyes in exasperation as she recalled the memory, "honestly, how those _lazy monkeys_ were allowed to pass elementary school I have no clue."

Hana was brought out of the rant she was about start by a quick chuckle. Seeing nothing amusing about her bad luck to be left behind to rectify another person's laziness, she glared slightly at the person who dared to laugh at her story. Hana wasn't in the mood to be ridiculed as she'd missed the opportunity to buy lunch, having used the majority of the break undoing the ridiculous mistakes done by those monkeys.

"Care to share what you found so amusing, Sawada-san?" She was in too bad of a mood to care about formalities at the moment; she had been looking forward to lunch, having missed breakfast. Hana had also missed Kyoko's calming presence; they only shared one class today; so she would be left in the company of monkeys for the majority of the school day, a thought that only worsened her mood. The guy's response, spoken in a surprisingly soft voice broke her from her musings.

"Ah, sorry if I have offended you, Kurokawa-san. I was merely enjoying the particular way in which you referred to your classmates." She was slightly surprised by the lack of stutter in the boy's answer, from her passing observation of him in the past two years, she'd come to see him as a rather timid student; '_A guy who didn't have the nerve in him to stand up to his attackers._'

He wasn't one of those annoying brutes, but his continual lack of action against the monkeys that surrounded him often made her grit her teeth in frustration. There were times when she had actually stepped in and showed her classmates a piece of her mind, but in the end, there was nothing she could do to end the guy's torment. He had to do it with his own hands, his own strength. Hana saw the signs, the clutching of the hands into tight fists, the stoic face used to mask underlying emotions, the irritation in his eyes. These actions had started around a year ago, and she had taken that as a sign relaying his build up of anger.

Two years in and these actions were happening with a faster frequency, it was coming to the point where she would see Sawada closing his eyes trying to reign in his frustration every class they had together. She'd labeled the guy a tailless monkey at the start, but these days she came to see him as a unique individual. There was, something about Sawada, the quiet anger that had him trembling at times, the way his pupils would take on an almost flame-like look. These had been among her recent observations of him, something had changed, and it was for the better. She mentally hoped that one of these days, when he finally snapped, she would be there to see it.

She raised an elegant eyebrow in response to the boy's reply, "What, you think I am wrong to call them idiots?" She couldn't understand what else could be used to describe such boisterous and lacking people.

"No, I was referring to how you addressed to your classmates as "monkeys"; I have to say that I agree with you wholeheartedly. There are the remnants of childhood playfulness, that is to be expected, but they have to start realizing that their actions aren't as easy to pass off anymore." As she gave Hana her explanation, Tsumi couldn't help but think back to her years of torment under her peers. She went on, expanding on what she meant after seeing the thoughtfulness in the girl's eyes.

"The odd push in the hallway, the degrading comments written in notebooks, the whispers behind a person's back. They have to start learning the actual consequences their not so subtle actions could lead to." Memories of her personal as well as worldly experiences flashed through her head; it was an unfortunate thing at times, the sharp bluntness many say only children were capable of.

Tsumi was roused out of her musings by her classmate; her eyes met the gaze of Hana and she could see sympathy and surprisingly, respect displaying in the orbs.

"I see, thank you for enlightening me," Hana hesitated for a second before continuing, "Tsuna-san. I see that you've befriended Kyoko?" She changed the topic, wanting to reflect on it in her spare time. She looked at her childhood friend, noting the slightly widened eyes, Kyoko's reaction to Tsuna's short speech. She had to admit, the guy was showing depths she'd never cared to search for before.

Kyoko quickly regained her senses and smiled softly at them, "Yes, Tsuna-kun helped me resolve a small problem that had been bothering me for some time. I think he would be a great friend, there's something rather exciting about you, Tsuna-kun." Halfway through her answer Kyoko had grasped the guy's hands into her own.

She'd been startled by the sudden contact, but a warm smile crossed her face all the same. Tsumi nodded towards her classmates, and introduced herself all the while sporting a playful grin. "Nice to meet you two, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi and I hope we can become great friends." Hana smiled at her answer while Kyoko giggled happily.

Hana was quickly warming up to the idea of having Tsuna as a friend, any guy who could converse with them without ogling at their bodies received points in her opinion. She couldn't see what they made such a fuss about; they were just transitioning out of their childhoods, so it probably had something to do with the changes in hormone levels. Just because she understood the reason for the new lights that seemed to dawn in the eyes of the male population didn't meant that she liked it. Appreciating a person's beauty and physical appearance from time to time was understandable and even flattering at times, but Hana enjoyed the company of people intelligent enough to hold a conversation.

Her new friend was surprisingly knowledgeable in various areas, considering his barely passing grades in class; she had assumed he would be struggling to match her in an intelligent discussion. He'd proved her wrong when he pointed out new viewpoints she had not thought of before, Hana certainly was looking forward to future meetings between them. Tsuna had shattered some of her prior perceptions of him, and it would be interesting to see how many other notions she had mistaken about her new friend.

There were many questions and few answers in her mind, for one, Hana couldn't understand how the guy could be receiving such low marks for his work if he was this intelligent, the only explanation would be that the below average grades were on purpose. This particular realization only confused her further, what was the reason for Tsuna's actions? One other thing that stood out to her was the mystery behind her friend's stutter. In class, the stutter was noticeable in every one of his sentences, yet the guy was here debating with her as if he had no other care in the world. His arguments were spoken in a clear voice, which she idly noted would disappear once he went through puberty in a few years. The enigma that was surrounding Sawada Tsunayoshi's character was enough to make her mentally grimace in frustration; Hana wasn't used to have her calculations of someone bring back less than accurate results.

"…Hana-san? Are you okay?" She blinked as the voice belonging to her new friend brought her back to her surroundings. "You looked out of it for a moment."

"I'm fine, sorry I was just lost in my thoughts," Hana raised an eyebrow at her classmate's sudden chuckle. When he explained how he could relate because he often had those moments himself, she laughed along with him.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt, but it's time to go to our afternoon classes. There were some difficulties with the normal bell, so there was an announcement." No wonder they had not noticed, the walls surrounding the school were almost sound-proof. Hana sighed and made to stand up, reluctant to stop the enlightening conversation with Tsuna. Looking at her female friend, she felt a twinge of guilt for having almost excluded her from the conversation.

Having caught Hana's gaze Kyoko merely smiled told her to not worry about it, she knew how immersed her friend could get at times. Besides, she was ecstatic about the expansion of their little group, she just knew it was the right decision to make, introducing Tsuna to her friend. Hana seemed to have gotten her good mood back; the girl simply glowed with delight the further the conversation with Tsuna went. The three quickly made their way back towards the school building- Kyoko having already cleared the area of their garbage – each in their own musings on the friendship born that day.

Tsumi couldn't keep the smile from her face, nothing could describe the joyful radiance that was currently coming off her in waves; there was still the low throb of guilt weighing in her mind, in her selfishness she'd gone on and befriended Kyoko and Hana, but she'd really missed the feeling of companionship in the last two years. Besides, this only meant she would have to train harder, becoming strong enough to protect the two girls chatting cheerfully as they strolled the way back towards the school building. Her smile became more pronounced as she remembered what classes she had to attend in the afternoon. She was heading towards Music Studies with Science coming up after that. Usually Tsumi would dread science period, tired of holding in her retorts for the insults Nezu threw her way, but today was different. Just the knowledge that she'd managed to obtain not one but two friendships made Tsumi mentally squeal with giddiness. She felt as if nothing would be able to ruin her good mood for the day.

It wasn't until the figures of three students were well away from sight that Reborn hopped down from the tree he had been taking cover in. He had not expected to come across … such revelations when he shadowed his student on a whim upon seeing him exit a hallway with Sasagawa Kyoko in tow. He'd been walking around the school grounds, mapping out the potential areas for his secret hideouts when a strange feeling had settled across his body. Not one to dismiss his intuition or the odd feelings, Reborn had immediately tuned into his surroundings, observing for any disturbances in the air. That had been when he had spotted his student.

A frown settled over his features, signifying his uneasiness with the newly acquired data. First there had been the boy's unexpected explanation for his years of absence, one that contained many loopholes. One glaring fault would be how the boy's story wasn't consistent with his dismal marks in school, grades that included a score in the 60 percentile in his English course. Anyone who'd spent the last six years of their life would have had no trouble with the first year English curriculum.

Then there had also been the impressive speed he showed this morning, and finally, Reborn had just witnessed Sawada Tsunayoshi chatting freely with two female classmates, his voice completely free of quavers and stutters. His student's ability to be able to follow Kurokawa in an intelligent conversation was another thing. There was obviously more to his pupil then meets the eye, thinking back to the profile he'd received in Italy Reborn scoffed, the information was useless now. The only things that matched his current observations of the boy were his general appearance. It looked like he would have to find out the secrets his student were hiding in his own time, not to mention, it seemed that he would have to take his frustration over being fooled on the boy sometime in the future. The arcobaleno would see where things went before he confronted his pupil; he certainly had enough spare time.

Seated comfortably in her spot by the window, Tsumi was happily oblivious to the new path a certain hitman's thoughts had taken. Had she known what new plans were being hatched, she would have shrieked in fear; the idea of anyone finding out facts hitting that close to home was dreadful. Nevertheless, Tsumi stared unseeing towards the front of the classroom, faintly aware that a class discussion was taking place. It didn't matter anyway, what happened during her classes didn't concern her, it only made her task easier; Tsuna's image was much easier to keep believable when she purposely tuned out during lessons. She'd already known since the start of the term, when the curriculum outlines for all of her chosen subjects were given out that nothing taught this year (and in the years to come) would be new to her knowledge. The teachers would be covering the fundamentals this year and Tsumi was already studying past the intermediate theories for all of her courses (at least the ones she care for.)

She switched her gaze towards the occupants of two desks near the middle of the room. A loopy smile crossed her face as she looked at the forms of her newly made friends; the knowledge of having two new acquaintances enter her admittedly boring lifestyle simply brightened her entire day. She'd thought over the selfish actions she made lately, it was too late to go back to her old solitary lifestyle now, Kyoko and Hana would expect her to join them on their ventures from now on, not that she was complaining.

The one thing weighing down on her consciousness was the danger her two friends automatically found themselves in once they had officially associated with her. She was fairly strong, more strength being one of the reasons she trained so diligently over the last few years, power enough to be able to protect the people around her. Yet the doubts lingered, crossing her thoughts every so often. What if it just wasn't enough? Her enemies were going to be powerful, and they would have years of fighting experience under their belt. Tsumi could only tell herself that all the blood, sweat, and time she had put into training was enough, enough to at least protect them once the inevitable came to pass. The more she thought about the progress she'd achieved in the last six years, the more terror she felt build up within her.

'_I'm being selfish; I've posed enough trouble for everyone surrounding me just by being around them. Should any fights occur on school property, I can't be sure that no one will get hurt. It was a selfish choice to barge in to their perfectly normal lives!_' Tsumi didn't think she could live with herself if anyone around her were to get hurt, but it was a little late to back out of her plan, not when the gears were finally set into motion. A pained expression flashed across her features, she really couldn't do anything without her teacher. How many times had she relied on her teacher's comfort and understanding to fall back on Tsumi wondered.

She put on a tough front, when in reality she had the most insecure thoughts swarming within her mind. It wasn't like the fate of the world laid on her hands, but the expectations were still overwhelming at times. She was heir to inherit the mantle of the Clam Corporation (the Vongola Famiglia's identity in the legal world), a position that had seen more bloodshed then she would have liked to think of. How many times had she asked herself whether she was ready to move towards her future? Tsumi supposed it was more times than she would like to remember, and each time the same question would come up. Did she really have the capability to lead the Vongola Famiglia? Sure she'd trained hard over the past six years, but was it going to be enough? Was the power she harnessed enough to change the current Vongola , would she be able to direct the famiglia back towards the original path it'd been created for? The pressure was really overwhelming at times.

Tsumi was suddenly roused out of her thoughts by the unfamiliar feeling of a hand tapping her shoulder. Resisting the urge to tense up, Tsumi turned to face the person who'd initiated the contact, expecting to see either Kyoko or Hana. She was certainly surprised when the person standing in front of her turned out to be none other than Yamamoto. Her mind quickly went through various possibilities for the reasons prompting him to directly seek her attention. Tsumi couldn't think of anything she'd done recently that could have influenced the guy, there had been that one situation two days ago during Music Studies when she'd caught the chalk being thrown at her purely out of reflex, but nothing happened during that period that would have pointed to a future confrontation between them. Besides that recent situation, there was nothing else Tsumi could think of, she'd been cautious during her few encounters with Yamamoto, treating him politely, as if he was just another classmate. She directed an unwavering gaze towards her friend, no, past acquaintance? Would he still consider her his friend she wondered, even after all these years apart.

As he caught her gaze, Yamamoto's eyes widened slightly, surprised by the intensity behind it. She observed quietly as he quickly shook his head for a moment, as if brushing off a memory or thought. That strange emotion flashed across his expression again, although she was now able to identify it as … hurt? She felt the sudden need to reach out and wrap her friend in a comforting hug, and her hands had already reached out to do just that when she consciously forced herself to quickly retract them before the guy could notice. Noting his strange behaviour for later purposes, Tsumi changed her expression to one of expectance; maybe she was unnerving him with her gaze. The guy seemed to have gathered himself by the time their gazes crossed paths once more as she was met with a friendly smile.

"Yo, Sawada!" Tsumi found herself playing witness to what Yamamoto's followers dubbed "The Blinding Smile". It was supposedly rumored to be able to make even the majority of the third year female body swoon. Seeing as she could not make out what was so special about the grin, with the exemption of how it almost looked forced, Tsumi brushed aside the rumour as mere gossip and proceeded to stammer out a short greeting to her old friend.

"H-hello Yamamoto-san, c-can I help you?" When was the last time they had exchanged more than four words between the two of them? It was all her fault, she had been gently pushing away her classmate's attempt at conversations, even going as far as to avoid confronting him during the school day (which was hard considering the guy was in five of her courses.) She missed her friend's companionship, and it weighed heavily on her the fact that she'd pretty much disappeared from his world without a word. Tsumi knew she must have caused her friend more pain with her absence, when he needed it the most. There was no way she would just come out with her secret now, call her a coward but she didn't think she could stand it should Yamamoto looked at her with the same eyes full of contempt like her classmates.

"Ah, well I figured you were lost in thought and missed Sakase-sensei's lecture, so I thought you would like a quick briefing before we started our project." Project, as in working with others, finding time outside school to meet up for extra planning, and more troublesome actions revolving around her persona's personal hell filled with obnoxious classmates? Tsumi gave a huge mental sigh; she didn't have good memories associated with group projects. Her peers usually assigned her the most taxing topics to research, knowing that she would have tough time finding information. Not to mention the lack of communication between her and her group members.

In the end, Tsumi just nodded, she might as well get it over with. Hopefully the project wouldn't last too long; she didn't want to be in the company of her peers more than required. Yamamoto continued his explanation after seeing that she'd understood the gist of the situation.

"We were assigned into groups of three or four, where each group gets to pick a famous musical period," Here he gestured towards the blackboard where a list of musical eras and periods was listed. "find out more about it and present our findings with a presentation at a later date."

Well, it didn't seem so bad, she'd read into the background for many if not all of those periods listed. Tsumi turned towards her old friend, about to ask him who her chosen group members were when he beat her to it. "Sawada, you're with me, Sasagawa, and Kurokawa."

Pleasantly surprised by how the group selection had turned out, Tsumi smiled. Seeing the last two members of their group make their way over from across the room, she decided to take on a more assertive role for this assignment compared to her attempts in the past; these people were ones she felt comfortable with after all, and besides, with Kyoko and Hana already aware that she didn't really have a stutter, it would be unfair to remain speaking in that manner when they were alone. There was no doubt that Yamamoto would be surprised once he became aware of the change, but if he was still the Yamamoto she knew from the past, than he wouldn't pry.

New instructions were being written on the blackboard. Tsumi quickly skimmed over the compiled information and quietly pointed out the main objectives to her group members. "After choosing a musical period, we're required to do background research on the general information surrounding the period." As expected, Yamamoto had blinked at the change in her manner of speech; Tsumi ignored it for now and continued on. "We're to also select a sample piece of music to play for the class. The composition has to be somewhat renowned, so we're looking for a famous song. What's left after that is to design a visual media piece to use in our presentation." She paused to take a breath. "We have options between using online information sharing software, manually designing an infomercial, and acting out our presentation in a unique representation of a group's selected topic."

Hana, sensing that she was done with the briefing, took over and added some comments of her own. "Alright guys, now that we have a clearer idea of what we need to do, does anyone have a suggestion for which musical period were choose? If you have a preference you better state it now, Sakase-sensei did say it would be first come first serve basis for the choices. I personally don't have anything in mind; therefore I'm okay with any choice you guys make." Glances and looks were exchanged between the four of them, and when the other three didn't make a move to voice their thoughts, Tsumi spoke up.

"I have a suggestion, if you guys don't mind." Seeing that she had their attention, she took it as a sign to continue, "I think we should research the Romantic Era."

Hana spoke up then. "Not that I'm opposed to the idea, but any specific reason why?"

Tsumi was able to respond after a few seconds of thought, "I think we will be able to relate to this musical period, as it is after all, an era known for its desire to transcend their time, many of the compositions found in this time described the unattainable, the passion and freedom contained in nature, amongst various other characteristics I think are endearing. I know for sure that I've always thought about the things waiting for us in the world, don't you guys feel a rush of energy whenever you think of pursuing those seemingly unattainable things?" Before Tsumi could continue anymore, the Bell rang, signalling the end of the second last period of the day.

Time had really seemed to pass by this period, as she'd thought it was much more fun when you had actual people listening to your thoughts. Tsumi was only faintly aware that Kyoko had come back from registering their group's chosen topic with the teacher, not long after leaving the classroom along with Yamamoto towards their next subject. Her situation still seemed a touch surreal at the moment. Two new friends and an actual conversation with Yamamoto, she hadn't found such content with her life in awhile.

She was brought back from her musings by a small sigh coming from Hana. Her classmate had propped her head on her hand and shut her eyes, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings for the moment. "I wonder if I should buy some food at a convenience store on the way home today, Cram school isn't until 5:30 so I have time to eat and maybe take a short nap…" The girl trailed off as she let out another sigh.

Tsumi wasn't sure what had prompted her to, but she went along with her intuition anyway. Tapping her classmate lightly on her shoulder, Tsumi began speaking, "Hana-san, I remember you said you missed the opportunity to buy lunch?"

Her classmate nodded and scowled at no one in particular, "That's right, all because of those monkeys, disrespecting the teachers by doing such a messy job."

Tsumi smiled at her friend's mutters, "Well I was wondering if you would like to come over to my apartment after school today. I can cook up something for you." Seeing the surprise and slight mistrust in the girl's eyes she elaborated, "I've been living alone for a while, you see my parents died when I was young, so I know how to take care of myself." A small gasp had escaped Hana upon hearing her circumstances, she added the final touches. "I would like it if you came to visit me, along with Kyoko-chan, and Yamamoto-san, we can work a bit on our assignment while we're there too! What do you think?"

Tsumi waited patiently for a few minutes, allowing Hana to mull over her invitation. When she'd received the reply of affirmation from her friend, a warm smile spread over her features. They would be her first visitors, reborn having invited himself in. Tsumi found herself already planning the possible dishes she could make; she might even have time to make some dessert.

"Hana-san, do you have any preferred dish you would like me to make? I'm skilled enough to be able to make just about anything if I put enough effort into it." '_As long as I have very specific instructions on how to make them_,' she thought in her head.

"I'm okay with something simple, a sandwich or even salad. Thanks for the offer Tsuna-san" Hana smiled while she reached inside her book bag for something, "I'm just going to text my parents that I'm going to be home late, I'll send messages of our afterschool meeting to Kyoko and Yamamoto too."

"Okay, I'm looking forward to it," Now she just had to sit through an hour of Science with Nezu. Tsumi smiled as she thought back to their plan to meet. Thankfully she was an organized person, even living on her own she had kept her apartment suite clean. The only thing she had to worry about was entertaining her guests, '_What kind of snacks was I supposed to prepare again?_' Tsumi wondered. '_Biscuits and tea, or maybe something healthy like fruit salad?_' she was probably over thinking everything, after all it had been ages since she'd last played host to people.

Tsumi smiled as she met her friend's eye, "Just one more class to go, Hana-san."

Her classmate returned her smile and shook her head, "I'm curious on why our science teacher seems so fixated on you; you're not the only one in our class with low grades after all."

Tsumi just shrugged, "I don't know, and I don't really care to find out, after a few more months, we'll move up a year and get assigned a better teacher." For some reason, Nezu was insistent on teaching the first year science classes only, always politely refusing the opportunity to teach the higher grades. This was the reason why she had been sure in her reply, it wasn't her business what Nezu wanted to teach, and next year she would be hopefully free of his presence.

Hearing the bell, she turned her head to face the front of the room, grimacing slightly upon seeing the science teacher's figure already setting down his binders. Tsumi was preparing to zone out when Hana's voice brought her to reality.

"This afterschool meet up of ours; it's a good opportunity to get to know each other I guess. I hope you don't mind me asking you some questions I've had?"

Tsumi's heart beat quickened as she heard Hana's request, she had a pretty good idea on what it was her friend wanted to ask her. This wasn't good; she'd forgotten to prepare some explanations for these questions. Would the excuses she offered Reborn last night be good enough? Her body froze as she realized something else, '_Oh no, one contradicting sentence and the arcobaleno's suspicions would be on me again._'

She felt an invisible weight of anxiety settle inside her stomach, she definitely had to be careful in introducing her classmates to Reborn this afternoon.

* * *

here's a list of classes. (They are not really relevant to the story)

8 courses, each occurring on alternating days:

1. Mathematics  
2. English (Elective)  
3. Physical Education  
4. Japanese

1. Social Studies (Sometimes switches with History)  
2. Arts (elective)  
3. Science  
4. Music Studies (elective)

* * *

**A/N**: Here's my last chapter of revised content! The next chapter will be newly written :)

Thanks **sunshineandmoonlight**! I fixed the mistake you pointed out ^^ I hope you continue to read this story

_Thank you for continuing to read the updates of this story! I feel like I've really made some progress from that day when I first typed up chapter one!_

_Have a wonderful day everyone, and please leave a review if you discover any plot holes or annoyances you find in my chapters!_


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